The Pirates of Fate
by CoLdBlAdE
Summary: *Sequel to "The Reasons For Treason". Definitely read the first story before this one. Four years have passed of peace, but our heroes have had enough of waiting for the fates plans to come to fruition. Merlin takes it upon himself to contend with destiny, but soon discovers why Fate is foretold, not made. And why is everyone so afraid of a man named Thor?
1. The Tale of Fate

Ok! So here we go. I received too many P.M's asking me when this was going to be up and, frankly, some even offering me either their sister's or daughters in exchange for me putting it up. Am I a little disturbed? Absolutely, yes I am, but I'm also very touched and even found myself missing writing it. I have been planning it since way before I finished the last, but there was still a lot to do if for it to feel like it could measure up to the reasons for treason.

Basically in this first chapter, it's just about seeing where everyone is after four years, and setting up all the problems that will happen in the story. Well, some of them. In the next chapter is when things start exploding shall we say? Not literally. I mean Gwaine doesn't trip on his cape, stumble down into a ditch and detonate like 50 tons of dynamite…although wouldn't that be something? Like a rainbow of blood, guts and beardiness. I will also be introducing some newish characters throughout the story, and having watched series 5 will bring some in as well.

I would like to make a request if you are kind enough to review this chapter. I would like to ask what you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, and also I would like to know how you feel about the Merlin finale purely out of interest. For the love of God do not feel obligated, if you don't want to then please don't. After all if you're good enough to leave a review then you shouldn't _have _to do anything. In the next chapter I will answer your reviews as per usual, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this one. Oh also, if you're confused by anything then I probably want you to be, but ask anyway and I shall explain if I can.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of its characters, but I do own James, Imi and Anna – so back off! You hear me! Actually I would be honoured if any of you wanted to use them. Come to think of it would you? We could make them like the characters created by the fans of Merlin. Wouldn't that be awesome? Ok so to sum up, if any of you want to use them then please do. **

* * *

Chapter 1 – The Tale of Fate

There is a story she knows of. A story of great power yet vulnerability, a story for which most allow the waves of denial to wash away their fear because, quite simply, the legend is merely too great for them to comprehend. They are the blameless billions that spend their days going to work, stressing over relationships and mindless reality television shows. They are the billions who seek to find some reason or meaning just to clamber out from the sheets every time the sun rises.

She is not one of those people.

She spends her time gazing up at the sky at night, pondering the magnificence of stars that lay coveted in the vast dark blanket in the heavens. She looks not in wonderment. No. She has no need to. For she has been told what masks itself behind the darkest stars, what wonders that shall remain hidden to mankind for all eternity should she_ decide_ to keep it hidden from them. It was her right. Her birth right, so she had been told.

A tiny, contented smile grew on her small face as anticipation filled every inch of her petite body. Her fingers impatiently fiddled with her bed sheets, her long blonde locks fell in heaps over her shoulders, small toes wriggling with delight under her covers. She was waiting for her father. He always came to her after her mother had put her to bed, regaling her with the tales of her noble ancestry and all that came with it. It was what they jokingly referred to as their little secret. It was for their family, their family alone to hear, and although they always said it with a smile she always felt the necessity to adhere to her fathers' words.

Her flaring green eyes travelled across her darkened room in search for a distraction to make the time pass, they eventually falling on one of her posters that hung from her bedroom wall. Like the rest of them it featured a pirate ship underneath a vast blanket of stars with a comet dancing through them. Her small smile stretched yet wider at the sight. Pirates held a particular interest for her, especially at this moment. It was her birthday today. Her Tenth birthday to be exact, and her father had promised her that he would continue the story he had so brazenly left unfinished the previous night. Or perhaps more importantly he had promised that it would be one to remember.

Her gaze drifted over to her bedroom window next to view the real stars that remained trapped in the night sky. She heard a car pull up the driveway of her house and briefly wondered who that could be at this time, but again her eyes drifted to the stars. The lights from other houses along her street seemed to dim them somewhat, and that pesky neighbours' cat hissing fought bravely to withdraw her focus, but luckily her thoughts remained on only one thing. Her fathers' story. A story of Angels and Demons, of Gods and Messiahs, of the magic and marvel that surrounded her family even to this day.

The story of the Pirates of Fate.

The sound of her bedroom door suddenly creaking open immediately sucked in her attention, a shiver of excitement pounding through her as the light from the hall filtered into her darkened room. It took all of her willpower not to hide her head under the sheets from the pure exhilaration of it all and allowed her grin to spread vastly across her face. It was time at last.

Her fathers' head poked round from the other side of the door, his ice-blue eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the room. "Morgan? Are you still awake?"

She balled up her sheets in her clenched fist and bounced on the bed. "What do you think, Daddy?"

"Right," He chuckled, now entering the room fully and closing the door behind him. "I should've known better. Didn't your mother put you to bed over an hour ago?"

She feverishly nodded as he lowered himself onto her bed, lifting his arm so she could snuggle up against his side. "Yep, which means it took you an hour to get here and finish your story."

"Alright alright, I get it, no need to tell me off," he whined whilst shifting his weight, trying to get comfortable for what would be a long stay. She smiled against her fathers' side at the remark but waited patiently for him to continue. "You're getting worse than your mother. I'm ashamed of you."

She shrugged, secretly liking the supposed mock-slur. "Last night you told me I have to go to sleep just after you finish telling me Merlin and Morgana would have to wait five years before they could go see the sorcerer prince and get Imogen back, and now you make me wait an hour. I should be allowed to tell you off, even if you are my Daddy."

"Moan moan moan – you know I have a job right? A pretty important one too," he said with a grin, relishing in the delight her smile brought him.

She groaned and playfully hit him in the stomach. "Get on with it Daddy."

"Fine," he sighed. "Well as you know James Regus came up with a plan to save them all from Malum, involving using the platform of time. The problem was that Imogen had to sacrifice herself in order for this plan to work and they would all forget everything that had happened to them since she had turned up. Luckily though they found a way to use it and still remember everything that had happened to them, but as with most plans it went wrong. Princess Anna died on the battlefield, a pregnant Imogen was transported to an eternal dimensional prison called the void, and James lied by saying he didn't remember them. Merlin himself would have died had it not been for the platform, but because of that things had changed. James had to go and make Merlin immortal."

"And then they had to wait five years before they could see James again, even though they thought he wouldn't know who they were, to get Imogen back - I know," Morgan moaned. "Now please can you tell me what happened next?"

He smirked down at her, rubbing her arm. "You are SO lucky I love you so much," he said whilst planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "Ok, so the story continues four years later. Things had been what the fates would deem worthy up until now. Merlin and Morgana had been living peacefully in Camelot, Arthur had been slowly uniting Albion, Gwen was Queen and young Isabella was now four…but that was all about to change. "

* * *

_The hunt is called again…_

_Her chest heaves and splinters. Gasping, wheezing, parched for breath. Her legs are burning, her thighs are screaming as they propel her across the woodland soil. Her aching arms flail at her sides as she vaults herself further and further. She knows she can't stop now. Heavy grunts escape her sore throat, her gaze flicking over her shoulder – eyes alive with terror. Deep in her gut she knows there is no evading her inevitable fate. No possible way she can escape the howling night, but she runs anyway. _

_It's all she knows. _

_She hurdles over a fallen tree and zig zags around those which endure, barely able to see five inches in front of her, and pounces over the small logs and rocks. They're close now. She can feel it. Their scorching laboured breaths practically pouring over her groaning legs, trying to suck her into their familiar and deadly embrace. But she merely pushes herself harder, knowing there's no hope of escape but unwilling to submit to the beasts that hunt her. She knows what happens when you do, and her skin trembles at the memory of that which still plagues the dark corridors of her nightmares. No. She has to keep going. She has to keep fighting._

_Because the Hellhounds howl draws near._

_They are hell on four legs. Invisible, fierce and lethal hounds from hell known to literally rip a person to shreds without having the decency to kill them first. She had seen it before, so many times. Well they would not reach her, she would not become their next meal. She would survive, she would claw out their eyes before they got the chance to do it to her as they had so many of her friends. No she would fight, for herself, for her friends, for her family. _

_But most of all for him. Always for him._

_Night is everywhere, the darkness enveloping her in a cocoon of isolated panic. She's on her own now. There's no one left in this world that can help her. Her mind insists on repeating this fact with cruel persistence. The beam of the three moons lit her distressed features, unable to shake the fear pulsing through her as she usually could. The unseen hounds were drawing closer and closer. They love the burn of the chase. They never tire on the hunt. Not here. Not in the void. They were only getting started. Hungry, fervent, slobbering over their favourite dish._

_Imogen Pendragon would be theirs soon. _

Morgana bolted upright in her crisp bed with a shrill that could have made the great Dragon wet his scales, her entire body quaking with an intense series of tremors. Merlin jerked awake next to her to a shadow infested room, lit only by dawning rays of the sun, bursting with shrills until his mind raced to catch up. He bolted up and enveloped his wife in his arms, desperate to soothe her.

"Morgana!" He cried when her breathing began to border on hyperventilating. "Morgana wake up! It's a dream! Morgana!"

Her eyes snapped open to reveal her terrified icy-blues, the ones that were identical to Imi's, still gasping for air. Her gaze swept over the room with lightning speed, frantic to acclimatise to reality once more. "Mer…Merlin? I…"

"I know," He murmured to save her the trouble. With a calming breath of his own he allowed her to rest her tear-stained face in the crook of his neck, tenderly rubbing her back in an attempt to pacify her. He frowned when he could feel the muscles under her skin quivering, vibrating up his own arms. "A dream I take it?"

She brought her head back and fixed her solemn stare on his, causing him to use his thumb to brush away her drying tears. "I don't think so," she whispered, her voice so small for such a powerful woman. This was the side of Morgana Pendragon that only he was allowed to see, the side she saved just for him. "I think it was something more," she added, her haunted gaze travelling up to meet his concerned one.

Merlin's face straightened as he caught on to what she was getting at. "A prophecy?"

"I hope not," She murmured back, before reading the unspoken question that exploded all over his expression. "Don't worry, it wasn't about Arthur," she eased his alarm, watching the majority of his anxiety melt right off of him. It made her feel guilty considering she was about to bring it all back again. "But it was about Imi."

As she had predicted his shoulders went stiff and taut at the mention of their daughter, his eyes focusing on nothing but her. "Imi?" He barely dared to repeat it. The name had become somewhat of a taboo around Camelot since the girl had been trapped in the void, since she had been ripped from their lives. He lightly shook his head, thinking over all the possibilities, and gently squeezed her shoulders. "What did you see?"

At this she broke the unblinking gaze she shared with him, taking a shuddering breath to try and calm her still erratic nerves. Part of her wanted to forget what she had seen and never speak of it again, but she knew she couldn't do that. Not with Merlin. Not when it came to Imi. "I saw…I saw her running. She was running from something that I couldn't see, but she was so afraid, Merlin. It was like I could see into her head, see her thoughts and feel her feelings as if they were my own," she paused as she remembered something else, something that broke her heart. "She thought of us. As she was running she thought of us. We were one of the reasons she kept running, why she didn't just give up."

"She would never give up," He replied with a distinct note in his voice, one that told her how foolish he felt having allowed himself to think of all this again. He rose slowly from the bed when he knew she was calm and moved to the window. "It's been four years. Four years of waiting, hoping…"

Morgana's tense body language relaxed at his words. It was true. It had been a long four years since they had all jumped into the platform of time and saved the world from Malum. It had been peaceful enough, no sorcerers had hatched so much as an egg never mind a plot to bring down Camelot. Even Uther had been peaceable enough. The fierce former king had never truly accepted the unions of his son and Guinevere, nor his daughter marrying his son's manservant, but had in time learnt to almost ignore it. Even when she had given birth to his first grandchild, the baby Isabella, the former king had barely seemed to play any part in it. Although as time went on he found it more and more difficult to stay away from the growing girl, eventually even going so far as to dote on her as he had with Morgana. Of course they never told him that his beloved grandchild would one day be a powerful sorceress, nor that his son-in-law Merlin was probably the most powerful of them all. That there was only one other in the world who could claim to be equal with him, James Regus, and the least said about him around Uther the better.

Gwen, now Queen, had discovered she was with child and was now 6 months pregnant. Arthur, Merlin and indeed the whole kingdom had celebrated the glorious news. The results of which reminded her of the eve of her wedding, with half naked men sprawled all over the floor and amusing if a little disturbed tales being told. Nevertheless it had reminded her of the good old days. Humour had been something she noticed lacking with the sorcerer prince absent, but that night had brought it back in folds.

Another blessing was the dragons egg that had been discovered by Merlin, Arthur, and the appointed Kings entourage. This included Sir Lancelot, Sir Gwaine, Gwen's brother Sir Elyan, Sir Percival and Sir Leon. Merlin, being the last Dragonlord, had summoned it to hatch to reveal a white dragon who he named Aithusa. Pretty soon a bond had formed between the white dragon and young Isabella, Merlin even feeling comfortable letting the two play alone…even if Morgana wasn't entirely there yet.

Morgana sighed from her position on the bed, feeling Merlin's every pain. "I know it's difficult, and believe me I wish there was something we could do, but you remember what the fates said. Five years and we can release her safely without any consequences…" She trailed off slowly, idly playing with the chain James Regus had given her all that time ago just after he had saved Merlin. After he had made her husband immortal as a last resort.

Almost every day she had had to fight the urge to use it, to call him to them despite the fact that she knew he wouldn't remember them. But she hadn't. Not yet. As Merlin had said it had been a long four years, but at this very moment it was harder than ever before not to get him to come inappropriately storming into their room in a blaze of magnificence. Especially with this new dream she had never needed him more. He would know what to do. He would know how to save her.

Merlin eyed the movement, watching as his wife played with the eye pendant he knew belonged to James Regus. His lips straightened, debating over whether he should say what was on his mind or not. It was a touchy subject at best.

"That's another thing I don't understand," Merlin's voice brought her out of her inner musings, having decided to speak his mind at last. "How is James even going to release her? Or why would he even do it? He doesn't even remember us or Imi. He doesn't care what we do or how we do it these days."

Morgana's eyes betrayed how raw the pain of it all still was. "I…have wondered that as well."

"Do you ever question …" The immortal warlock began with extreme trepidation, once again second guessing himself. He had to word this correctly or it would be his head. "Do you ever consider the possibility that he lied to us? That he just told us what we wanted to hear so we would jump into the platform? That maybe he doesn't really know how to get Imi back?"

The black haired beauty's icy look chilled him to his very marrow, something she reserved for when she was beyond enraged. He hadn't been careful enough. "He would _not _do that."

Merlin hung his head. This is what he had been afraid of. "Morgana, we know he lies when he feels he has to. Don't you think saving the world might have been one of those times-?"

"He would not do that to ME!" She shrieked at him, her chin protruding in her fury. However her fury wasn't what shut him up. It was the hurt that shone in her eyes at the mere suggestion of his theory that silenced him.

He silently cursed himself for his stubbornness to be heard. It was common knowledge amongst himself, Arthur and Gwen not to ever mention Imogen or James in front of her. Because they knew that despite her even attitude toward everything that had happened, Morgana Pendragon had taken it the hardest. Out of all of them she had been the closest to James, the one who had taken it upon herself to carry Imi's burden of hero worship she had had for the immortal until she returned. And as for Imi herself, well… he had caught his wife countless times when she thought no one was watching, sobbing to herself and holding her stomach to try and muffle her cries. He shook his head as if telling himself off. No one mentioned Imi to her mother.

Absolutely no one.

"I need you to understand that, Merlin," Morgana asked of him, the sheer despair in her tone screaming of her need. "James Regus can and will save my little girl. He would not lie about that, not right to my face, not to me," she took a deep breath, ice-blue eyes burning into his own. "Not to me."

He broke eye contact with her, ashamed of himself. Not for having the theory but for voicing it to a mother who had done nothing but wait for her daughter to be returned to her. "You're right, he wouldn't do that. I'm sorry."

"I should hope so," She replied with a single sharp nod before physically deflating, offering him a sad yet warm little smile. It wasn't like she didn't understand why he had voiced his concerns. Imi was his daughter too, but she refused to share them. She knew, just knew, that James would bring her home. _Knew _it. But hearing Merlin's as always logically sound and filled with inhuman perception concerns voiced out loud had the possibility of persuading her from her certainty, and that was not an option as far as she was concerned. She needed it more than she would ever admit.

Merlin however was not put at ease. Morgana had become very adept at identifying the differences between dreams and prophecies, and it was this that worried him more than anything else. She didn't think it was a dream. Sure of it in fact. It truly scared him, because if she was in trouble and stuck in the void, then she was all alone with no-one to help her. What if she died there? What if waiting another year would be her doom? His girl would suffer and die alone with no one around to show her how much she was loved. She had mentioned before she jumped into the platform of time that she was pregnant as well. What had happened with that? He couldn't imagine the suffering she would have gone through if something had gone wrong with that.

With the emergence of this prophetic nightmare all of his built up fears had been brought up to the surface at once. It was almost too much to take, and it was with this almost numbing fear that a thought occurred to him. An idea that had been manifesting in his mind ever since Imogen was taken from them. What if they didn't have to wait for James to get her back?

What if he could do it?

What if he could do it today?

"In your dream," The immortal Warlock began, fishing for details before he made any decision. "Imi was definitely in the void?"

Her gaze snapped up to look at him, sensing something in his tone. "Definitely. There were three moons and she even thought it."

He nodded, eyes downcast, ignoring the blindingly obvious question of how Morgana could suddenly see what Imi was thinking. "And how sure are you of how close she was to death? How much danger was she in?"

"She was so sure she was going to die, Merlin," She answered him, eyes glistening over and having to bite her bottom lip in order to withhold her tears. She watched as his face remained completely unchanged. It simply remained in that straight, closed expression anyone else would mistake as not caring. Not her. "And she was so scared, but she kept running nonetheless. She was thinking of someone in particular. Someone she referred to as him."

Merlin nodded, now knowing what he needed to do with full certainty. He looked up at her, slowly, meeting her suspicious gaze with his own cautious one. "What if…?" He began, knowing full well that her complete attention was on him. He took a deep breath and tried again. "I know that it's stupid. I know that there will be severe consequences, possibly life threatening consequences, but what if she dies before we can save her? What if this was the Fates plan all along? We both know how much they wanted her gone."

Her eyes narrowed at him, firmly placing her arms behind her to prop herself up on the bed. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" He began, taking a few careful steps toward her again. "What would you say if I could find a way to break her out…today?"

Morgana drew her head back, her gaze scandalised at his words. He was right, it _was _stupid. Worse, it was insane. They had already done enough to anger the fates. They were the Gods who controlled life and death, who controlled destiny, wealth and fortune. To top that all off, they had already waited four years. It made no sense to endanger lives for just another year.

"I'd ask what are we still doing here?" She whispered back, earning herself the stunned expression from the man in front of her. Happy, but stunned.

He shook his head, trying to think reasonably. "What about the consequences?"

"Damn them," She answered with a distinctly husky note in her voice, the corner of her mouth twitching into some kind of mild smirk. The two shared in a moment of complete silence, eyes locked, before it happened. He smiled back. He leant in, intent on claiming her lips, only she wasn't prepared to wait for him to get there. She seized a firm hold of his grey night shirt and hauled him to her, bringing his lips crashing down on hers.

He pushed her back and she was more than willing to allow him. It amazed her that every kiss still felt as electric as the first one they shared, way back when they had been trying to escape from the Venemagus kingdom. The way they sent that prickly feeling down through her whole body, the way it continued to pulse around her like he was somehow infecting her blood with his lips. It was only when she began trying to tug off his nightshirt that they heard the knock at the door.

"Merlin!" Sounded an all too familiar, all too rude voice.

Merlin let his head droop onto her shoulder, both of them sighing at the same time. "Arthur," they muttered in simultaneous disappointment.

"Merlin!" He called again, clearly just outside the chamber door. "Merlin, are you manhandling my sister? Does she know where your hands have been?"

The young Warlock rolled his head around on his neck, as always frustrated with his king. "Yes! Go away!"

Morgana shook her head. "How does he always know? Are you sure he doesn't have magic?"

"Everyone I've met with magic had a brain to go with it," Merlin sighed.

"She better not be pregnant again!" Arthur's voice echoed into the room. "I'm still dealing with the last bundle to come from that horror tale."

Morgana scowled, hard. "What are you talking about, Arthur? Go away!"

"Mummy?" Came a tiny, tired little voice from the other side of the door. Immediately Morgana's frustrated eyes bolted open, before shoving Merlin off of her and darting across to the door.

Merlin sighed. One day, after he was done risking his own life to save his fair haired king's, he was going to kill him himself. Slowly, painfully, and with a bounce in his merry step. Perhaps he'd even whistle a jaunty tune as he did it. "One day," he muttered darkly to himself, rolling off of the bed just as Morgana flung open the door.

Indeed, there stood a bored looking Arthur, holding a scruffy haired four year old Isabella in his arms. Instantly Morgana's face melted into one of gooey smiles and her eyes flooded with love. "Look who's awake," she chirped in what Gwaine had dubbed the sickly sweet tone, the one all mothers spoke in to their babies.

"Oh no, not just awake," Arthur prattled on, his eyes having turned a tad insane. "But jumping on my bed and waking me up…_before dawn_," he over-pronounced the last two words, trying to display his utter loathing at the scenario he had found himself in this time.

"Maybe she thought your head was too big for the bed and felt the need to warn you," Merlin lazily threw the insult, stretching his waking limbs as he made his way over to them.

"Don't play with me, Merlin," Arthur warned, extending a dangerous finger to point at his advisor. The young warlock blinked. "I am in no mood for your unimaginative slurs today, so remove your dress and make-up for one moment and discipline the child."

Merlin scrunched up his face. "Dress and make-up? Have you been eating your own cooking again?"

"And _the child _has a name," Morgana threw in, taking Bella from her brother and resting her on her hip. "And I'm sure she would appreciate it if the Uncle she adores so much could be bothered to use it. Now, what do you say Bella?"

Little Bella turned huge wet eyes up at her uncle, causing Arthur to actually groan. He was already beaten and he knew it. "I'm sowwy, Uncle Arthur," she apologised in her most sincere voice, earning the badly withheld smile on Merlin's face at Arthur's utterly blank expression.

"Very well…Bella," He added stiffly, eyeing Morgana warily as he said her name. "We will speak of it no more. However do it again and…well I'll most likely forgive you then as well – wipe that stupid smile of your face, Merlin."

The black haired beauty narrowed her eyes and lightly shook her head at him. "You'll make a wonderful father," she spat, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I must remember to congratulate Gwen later on her pregnancy," Merlin hummed in agreement, before turning suddenly serious eyes onto his wife. "We should go."

"Go?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

Morgana's lips parted somewhat, realising he was referring about their efforts to release Imi earlier than planned. "Yes, we should," she replied in equal measures of enthusiasm.

"Should we?" Arthur continued, confused.

"Gwen can take care of Bella," Merlin thought out loud.

Arthur sighed. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on?"

"We can get dressed and be gone within a few moments," Morgana agreed, beginning to feel exhilaration buzzing through her.

"Bella, can _you _tell me what's going?" The king tried, sounding desperate.

The little girl smiled up at her favourite Uncle. "Your nose is big."

Arthur nodded. "Don't really know what I was expecting there anyway."

"Sire!" Cried an urgent call from down the corridor Arthur still stood in. All four turned to view the source of the voice to see Sir Gwaine sprinting up toward them, red cape billowing behind him due to his speed and an uncharacteristically concerned expression etched into his features. "Arthur, trouble."

Arthur, who had been waiting with a smile for Gwaine's inevitable pick up line on a still not fully dressed Morgana, instantly tensed. "What's happened?"

"I think you best come to the throne room," The knight answered with a certain note in his voice. "There's a sorcerer waiting for you, claiming he needs your immediate help."

Arthur shared a stern but brief look with Merlin before nodding. Merlin understood immediately. Though Camelot was now a place of peace for those with magic, it was still looked upon with fear by those who wielded it as if it was still a sorcerer's graveyard. "Does this sorcerer say what he needs so urgently that he would come to Camelot?"

"Well that's the thing," Gwaine began, now looking at all of them. "He says he needs help to find Anna Regus, the sorcerer princess."

It felt like someone had momentarily sucked out all the oxygen from the corridor as they all stared, gormlessly, at a still lightly panting Gwaine. Anna Regus. To everyone present but Morgana, James Regus's cherished little sister, but to the black haired beauty she was not only his daughter but also her little half-sister…and that's when it hit her. James must be here. In Camelot. Now. Who else would so urgently need to find her that they would come to a kingdom which previously murdered the girls' kind? Who else would be bold enough? Who else would show up just when they were needed most?

A small smile twitched onto her face. "We will be down as soon as possible. Instruct everyone to wait for our arrival."

Gwaine nodded immediately and lightly jogged back the way he came, leaving a dazed Arthur and Merlin in his wake. Morgana rounded on them, beaming an abrupt amount of confidence. "It's him, it's James. He's come back," she beamed at them, watching as the two men shared a brief glance of doubt.

"Morgana, I don't think that-" Merlin began before being hushed by his wife's finger on his lips.

"I don't want to hear it this time, Merlin," she warned, unprepared for him to shatter her impressions yet again as he had already tried this morning. "What does James Regus do best? He shows up when we need him most. It is no coincidence that he shows up moments after we decide to release Imi from the void early."

"Wait, what!?" Arthur cried, throwing the two glares of utter bemusement. "Have you both gone completely insane!? What about what the fates said!? What about what James himself said!?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, Arthur, you don't understand-"

"No, I don't," Arthur harshly interrupted, sending them both his most disappointed look. "You know, maybe it is James in my throne room, and if it is I hope he's here to put you both in your place. Now both of you get dressed and get down to the throne room before I throw you BOTH in the dungeons for a fortnight!"

Merlin's face suddenly straightened. "They couldn't hold us and you know it."

"I am not even close to joking, Merlin," Arthur warned, shoving a finger in his face. "Get dressed…and meet me in the throne room…or I will be forced to act, and that _is _a threat. Do you understand?"

Morgana could only gaze on with her lips delicately seperated, more than a little staggered, as the two men continued to glare at each other. She knew better than most that the two weren't always pleasant toward each other, as did the entire kingdom for that matter, but she couldn't recall a time when Arthur had been quite so vicious with her husband. Even going so far as to use real threats was unheard of.

"Who's James Regus?" Isabella asked in her small, still tired voice.

Three heads all whipped around to stare at the little girl in astonishment. Where were they supposed to begin answering that? The girl was an exact copy of Imogen Pendragon, the girl who was destined to fall in love with the famed immortal. So how did they explain to a four year old girl that as soon as she set eyes upon him she would be instantly drawn to him? The answer was of course simple.

They wouldn't.

"When you're older, Bella," Morgana soothed, now trying to smooth the girls wild hair with her fingers. The four-year-old merely shrugged, already uninterested.

Arthur turned back to Merlin and pointed at him once more. "I want to see you in that throne room, understood?"

Merlin's face was completely straight, his expression closed. "Yes, Sire."

Arthur merely continued to glare at his advisor from under his eyebrows, clearly sceptical about his willingness to obey. With eventual unease the king gave a reluctant nod. "Make sure he doesn't run off, Morgana," He commanded his sister, who merely sent him a thin smile.

"But of course, dear brother," She assured. "Would I ever disobey my king?"

Arthur's eyes shot up to meet hers, now even more uneasy than he had been before, but he also knew he could keep his recent guest waiting no longer. If his little cousin was in danger then he needed to help her as soon as possible. So it was with a heavy sigh that he finally turned away from his sister and best friend and hurried away to prepare, leaving the two behind with little Bella to watch him go.

As soon as the king had rounded the corner Morgana grabbed the door, slammed it shut, and placed her back against it to stare her husband down. "You'll have to leave now if Arthur isn't going to notice you go," she rapidly fired out, placing Bella on the floor who proceeded to begin battling with her frizzy jet-black hair.

"I'm not even sure that will be quick enough," Merlin replied with equal speed, hastily pulling off his grey night shirt and savagely heaving on his normal clothes. "Wait, what about you? Why did you say _you_ instead of _we_?"

She shook her head, her face contorting somewhat. "I'm not coming yet. I need to find out if it is James downstairs and what's happened to Anna before I go anywhere. If it is him then I'll get him to come with me to meet you, just make sure you leave a trail."

Merlin finished dressing and stared at her for a while, eyes understanding but excited all at the same time. "I'll bring her home Morgana, I promise."

"You better," She replied with a sharp nod, her own ice-blue eyes dancing with a need that had grown with each day she had been away from Imi. "You bring Imi and I'll bring James."

He lowered his brow at her. "How? He doesn't remember us."

"Oh, Emrys," Morgana breathed with a suspicious smirk. "Do you really doubt a priestess of the old religion?"

Merlin couldn't help himself, really he couldn't, but a small smile tugged at his lips. "This is it, isn't it? We're finally all going to be together again."

"Yes we will," Morgana beamed right back at him, her skin tingling with anticipation. "And with Imi and James at our sides we will take the consequences and blast them into dust. We will be unstoppable once more. We'll be a family once more."

He shook his head, finding it hard to believe this was so suddenly happening. "I love you," he whispered to the black haired wonder, who melted at his words. It always amazed her how she could continually feel it whenever he said it. Always.

She strode up to him, each step feeling like an eternity, and cupped his face in her hands. "And I love you," she exhaled, before planting her lips on his for the briefest but most magical of moments. She pulled back and fixed herself her eyes on him, levelling the man most people would fear with an intense stare. "Bring our girl home."

He smiled as her hot breath poured over his lips, his hands wrapped snugly around her hips. "Or don't come home at all?"

"You're so smart," she teased right back. "But you are Emrys, and there is nothing that can escape you. Now go, before Arthur grows a brain and realises we never listen to him."

He nodded at her. "I'll see you soon," he breathed back and, just like that, jogged toward the door.

"Daddy!" Bella shrieked, making her father whip around to face her in a mild panic.

"What? What is it?" He asked, for some reason looking around the room or some kind of evil monster about to attack his child. She had sounded so scared.

Little Isabella threw her arms up at him and grew a magnificent pout. "Goodbye kiss?" She squeaked out, earning a laugh from her mother. Clearly the child didn't understand the urgency of the situation.

Merlin rolled his eyes, but knew he was powerless to refuse her. "Right," he huffed, running over to his little girl, sweeping her up and kissing her forehead. "Good?"

She beamed up at him, snuggling into his neck. "The best! I love you, Daddy."

In spite of himself he couldn't help the small yet warm smile that grew on his face, and before he could stop himself buried it in her hair. As always some of her frizzy black hair caught on his scarf, but again as always he didn't care. As his mother had always said, you knew it was real love when you even adored the things that annoy you about the other person.

_"I __hate __that man," Imi seethed with a shake of her head at James's actions, eyes alive with fury, before she met her mothers' worried stare. "But God do I love him."_

_"You hate __and __love him?" Merlin had to ask, now feeling so baffled he was sure that if the wind changed it would be rather deadly to his looks._

_"Yeah," Imi answered with a pout, as if just realising it herself. "And I think for the same reason. Is that strange?"_

_Morgana smiled warmly at her girl. "No Imi, it really isn't. Trust me."_

That had happened before they had all jumped into the platform, after James had once again sacrificed himself to buy them time amongst other things. The memory made him hug Bella even tighter to him. Now more than ever he felt a surge to get Imogen back as soon as possible and to be reunited with the other immortal. He couldn't bear it any longer. He just couldn't.

He gave his daughter one last squeeze, her mother one last smile, and bounded from the room. Morgana full out grinned. This was actually happening. This was happening now. Soon she would have her other little girl by her side again and James Regus would both delight and baffle her with his insane antics. She could hardly wait. She couldn't wait.

With fevered enthusiasm she whirled around to face her baby Bella, her grin still threatening to break her beautiful face in two. "Come Bella, let's go lie to your Uncle Arthur."

* * *

Merlin ran, sprinting through the forest and cutting through the golden rays of the early morning sun that streamed through the tree tops. He didn't even know where he was running to. He didn't know if he needed to be in a certain place at a certain time or anything about it, but he had spent every day thinking about how he would go about finding out if he was given the chance. A number of theories had come and gone, but one always stood out, and that's where he was going to now. He just needed to be far enough away from Camelot that so he wouldn't be seen.

"**Oooh Dragon! E****male! So fengometta! Tesd 'hup' anankes!**" He roared, summoning his old friend as he charged through the trees at full speed. He made sure to break as many twigs and leave as many footprints as possible, knowing Morgana would want to follow as soon as she could.

He kept running. He was used to it by now. He and Arthur had found themselves in a number of situations where they had had to either keep running or die. They had made him strong without even realising he was building muscle, and frankly he was grateful for that, because he would need all of his stamina today.

As if on cue the sound of ancient, powerful wings driving through the air caught his waiting ears. He stopped dead in his tracks to gaze up at the early morning sky, watching as Kilgharrah gracefully glided down and landed with a booming thud directly in front of him.

With a bow of his mighty reptilian head, the great Dragon fixed his piercing magical yellow eyes onto the last Dragonlord. "You summoned me, young warlock?" he boomed across the landscape.

"Yes," Merlin began, forming the right words in his head and leaving a very pregnant pause. Kilgharrah narrowed his piercing gaze. "I…need your help."

Kilgharrah recoiled his head. "I see, like old times. And might I ask what trouble have you gotten yourself tangled up in this time, Merlin?"

"I…" Merlin swallowed. He knew his old friend was going to be furious with him, even more so than Arthur had been this morning, but he had to do it. For her. "I need you to tell me how to break Imogen out of the void, and how I can do it today."

Rather than angry, as he had expected, Kilgharrah actually seemed to pity him. "Merlin, I understand better than you may realise what being a father means, but this is not-"

"Morgana had a vision of Imi dying in the void!" The young warlock interrupted, tactfully leaving out the bit where she only appeared to be about to die. "I am going to save her from that but you have to help me."

Kilgharrah gazed blankly down at him. "That cannot be," he finally responded, sounding as sure of himself as he always did. "The Witch must have lied. Imogen Pendragon has a destiny of her own. To give birth to a child saviour with James Regus that will bring peace to this world, and to give her life protecting him. Her story will be the platform on which all mothers will know and follow, she cannot meet her end before she has a chance to fulfil that destiny."

Merlin simply stared, astonished, at the great dragon. This was the first time he had heard of this, but it was not why he was so surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?" He breathed out, desperate to know why he had been kept in the dark for so long.

"Because, young warlock, I fear you had had enough of destiny," Kigharrah croaked out in that ever ancient, ever majestic voice. "I did not wish to burden you with yet further knowledge, especially when you consider it is not even your destiny-"

"Not MY destiny!?" Merlin raged, becoming so angry he could feel the hairs on his arms begin to stand on end. "Imi is MY daughter! You do not keep that from me!"

Kilgharrah released a silent sigh. "Perhaps you are right, but nevertheless we cannot release her before her time. Her destiny is too important for the fates to sacrifice her so carelessly," The great dragon finished, but lowered his scaly brow when it appeared Merlin was not hearing a word. "Do I bore you, young warlock?"

"She was pregnant…" Merlin trailed off, mumbling to himself just loud enough for Kilgharrah to hear.

A look of creeping realisation swept over reptilian features. "I beg your pardon?"

"Imi, she told us she was pregnant right before she was sent to the void," The young warlock continued, before looking up with wide, glistening eyes at the dragon. "She said it was James's."

Kilgharrah seemed to freeze in thought, leaving the forest around them to their own natural noises of birds and shuffling grass. "This…changes matters greatly."

"Then you'll help me?" He began, both surprised and hopeful at the unexpected scenario. However it also scared him more than he was willing to admit to himself. If Kilgharrah was suddenly willing to break the rules laid down by the fates, then perhaps Imi was in even more trouble than he realised.

"Indeed I will, young warlock," The great dragon offered, earning himself Merlin's shaky smile. "But first…might that be young Isabella's hair on your scarf?"

Distracted by these latest turn of events, he vaguely even registered the question as he picked off the loose hair. "Yes, they always come off in the morning. What does it matter?"

"Because young Isabella is the bridge between the two worlds," Kilgharrah informed. "James Regus may be an insufferable prince but the boy is a true genius. Isabella and Imogen are the same person according to their blood, their bodies _and _even their hair. With this one strand, we will be able to open the gateway to the void and retrieve the sorceress and her child."

Merlin stared down at the single hair, reprimanding himself over and over again in his head for being about to discard of the single most important strand of hair he had ever come across. It was of course true. Imogen and Isabella, at least biologically, were the same person thanks to James's brilliant brain. However there was something bothering him about that, something that confused him.

"But if Imi and Bella are the same person in body…then what about Imi's destiny? The one you say is so important?" He asked in a careful tone, as curious as he had ever been in his lifetime. "Which one of them is destined to be with James? Imi once we break her out? Or Bella when she grows up?"

The ancient beast recoiled somewhat, the whispers of a smile dancing into fruition across his rarely intrigued face. "Ah, now that, my young friend, is a fine question. One that I am afraid I cannot answer, because I simply do not know. But what I do know is this, I fear that both of them will be drawn to him in the same way, and with same amount of determination."

Merlin shook his head. "No but, but Bella is only four."

"It hardly matters," Kilgharrah replied, once again certain of his convictions. "The connection may not be romantic whilst she is a child, but it will be fierce nonetheless. Believe me, Merlin, it would be best if the two never met."

* * *

Morgana stormed down the hallway, her hand snugly wrapped around Isabella's, on their way to see James Regus. The small girl had to jog slightly to keep up with her mothers' firm strides, but she didn't mind. She actually enjoyed it. This way she could basically hop to her Uncle Arthur's throne room, knowing her mother wouldn't let her fall. She would even hold her arm up so she could swing in the air, almost like she was flying.

She _loved _flying.

The two finally reached the vast double doors that lead to the throne room and wasted no time in waiting for the guards to open them. Instead her Mummy shoved open the doors herself, released her little hand so she could go skipping into the room, run up and hug her favourite Uncle Arthur. Morgana on the other hand feverishly scanned the room, dying, needing, anxious to see the insane, charming, brilliant grin of James Regus aimed right at her. She scanned every corner of the highly decorated throne room, eyes alive with her need.

And then she saw him.

Her grin to say the least was magnificent, her eyes flooding with tears of joy at the base. There he was. Wearing his trademark black robe with the hood pulled up. A laugh escaped her dry throat. She just knew he'd turn up right when they needed him most. He always did. She walked over to him at first, to turn him around and face her, but she soon found herself running. He would make everything better again. He would save Imi and help bring them all back together. She could _feel _it.

"James!" She squealed, firmly gripping her shoulder and forcibly swinging him round to face her.

…But it wasn't him.

A pair of ice-blue eyes stared back out at her instead of the shinning emerald she had been so desperate to see. But to her surprise her heart didn't sink as far as she had thought, because though they weren't the eyes of James Regus they were still familiar. Very familiar. Part of her wanted to take a step back, but the majority was what lead to her hand coming up to cup the man's cheek.

"Mordred?" She breathed out, her eyes narrowed as she studied the boy's features.

A small smile tugged at his lips despite the sorrow in his eyes. "Hello Morgana," his voice was deep, way deeper than she had expected. He was still young, still no doubt in his teenage years, but he was older and far closer to being a man than a boy anymore.

"Mordred and I have been waiting for you and Merlin to arrive before we go into any details," Arthur's dulcet but unsurprised tones stole her attention away from her old friend, and placed it on Arthur's almost bored expression. "Speaking of which, where is Merlin?"

Instantly Morgana's mask fell into place. "He's just running some errands. I'm sure he'll be here shortly."

"Running some errands…" Arthur trailed off, turning his head to the side and nodding to himself. "For Gaius perhaps?"

"I believe so, yes," Morgana replied shortly, not even blinking as she regarded her sovereign and brother.

"Well, isn't that strange," Arthur humoured her. "Because I happen to have asked Gaius, whilst he was attending to Guinevere right after I saw you this morning, if Merlin was busy with him today or not in anticipation of that very excuse. I believe his exact words were, oh what were they again? Oh yes, he said NO."

"Then he must have asked him after that exchange," Morgana continued, cool as a cucumber.

"No…no, I don't think so," Arthur said with a purse of his lips. "Since Gaius has been with me since then, and is in fact _still _here. Aren't you Gaius?"

Much to Morgana's chagrin, a guilty looking Gaius stepped out from behind the knights following Arthur, his hands tied together and his head hanging. "I'm sorry, my lady."

The black haired beauty sighed, releasing a breath through her nose. "It's alright Gaius. It's not your fault."

"So then," Arthur continued. "I ask again, where is Merlin?"

Morgana glared death at her brother. "Very well, you've caught me," she admitted with extreme difficulty. "He's down at the tavern."

"The Tavern?" Arthur damn near yelled.

"Yes, my lord," Morgana faked guilt with immense skill. "I'm very sorry. I told him not to but, well, you know Merlin."

Arthur shook his head. "Morgana, how many times have I told you not to call me my lord."

"Many, sire," Morgana said with a bow.

"And how many times have you been lying when I've had to tell you that?" Arthur cut in, causing Morgana's eyes to shoot up to meet his once more. "Gwaine, is Merlin down in the tavern?"

"I checked as you asked, my Lord," Gwaine answered. "But as you know the tavern is often crowded and-"

"Gwaine!" The king barked.

The warrior sighed, sent an apologetic glance Morgana's way, and turned back to Arthur. "He was not, sire."

Morgana ground her teeth. "Gwaine, you are in so much trouble."

"I thought as much, my lady," Gwaine exhaled.

"He's run away to free Imogen hasn't he," It was more of a statement than a question that exited the fair hair haired kings mouth.

A mask of pure offence settled over her face. "Absolutely not!"

"Bella, did your father run away?"

The little girl nodded. "Yep."

"Bella!" Morgana moaned.

"Lying is wrong, Mummy," Isabella fought right back, knowing her mother could never stay mad at her for long.

"Yes it is, I agree," Arthur agreed with a nod.

"Thank you," The little girl grinned at her uncle. "Daddy told me."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Well then your father's an idiot."

"I also agree with that," Arthur granted.

"I wanna see aunt Gwen," Bella stated rather suddenly and skipped over to her frowning mother. "Love you, Mummy."

Morgana tried to stay angry at her, really she did, but she simply couldn't. "I love you more," she eventually conceded, bending down and kissing the little girl on the top of the head.

Gwaine scoffed. "Sure, she gets out of trouble just like that," he moaned like a three year old, watching the little girl skip from the room to find her beloved Aunt Gwen.

"This is what happens in Camelot?" Mordred had to ask, having had to watch the entire exchange in silence. "How have you achieved so much?"

They all stared at him for a moment, until Gwaine finally shrugged. "We have two dragons."

"Listen, Arthur," Morgana began, the mask falling as she rounded back on her brother. "You don't know the entire-"

"Merlin is going to get himself killed," Arthur raged under his breath, storming up to his sister in a fury. It was strange, but she had never seen the resemblance between Arthur and James more than in that moment. It reminded her why they were there in the first place, and made Arthur's as always badly hidden concern for Merlin all the more unbearable and touching at the same time. "And all for something he shouldn't be doing."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "He's immortal, Arthur, in case you've forgotten."

"We will discuss this later," he seethed at her, before turning around and facing a still waiting Mordred. "For now we shall discuss why you are here, Mordred, and why you claim to need help finding Anna Regus."

Morgana snapped her gaze over to the young man, all her attention suddenly focused on him. "Anna Regus?"

"Yes, My Lady," Mordred answered with the appropriate amount of respect. "Myself and Morgause were charged by the prince to watch over her whilst he was away."

"Away?" Arthur intervened. "Away where? And for how long?"

"No one seems to know, Sire," The druid eagerly responded. "He left just over six months ago. We haven't heard word of him since."

Morgana frowned hard and had to shake her head, utterly confused by this news. "So, James Regus just left his little sister without any explanation, the one he loves so much, with you and Morgause?"

"Yes, My Lady," Mordred replied with a slight nod. "With the instructions that if she were harmed, lost or even stolen to come and find you and King Arthur for help."

At this everyone in the room scowled, now all as confused as each other. "I don't understand," Arthur had to intervene. "Why would he tell you to come and find us at all?"

"And he would never leave Anna," Morgana added. She wouldn't let that point go. "Never. Especially not with the likes of my sister who is no doubt still loyal to Borin Regus."

Mordred's eyebrow twitched a little at her words. "Morgause is as loyal to our prince as Emrys is to Arthur, ever since she discovered how much he has done for you."

"For me?" Morgana scrutinised him. "What are you talking about, Mordred?"

A small laugh escaped him the moment she had uttered those words, clearly thinking she was joking. "What am I talking about? Surely you must know what I am talking about?" When all they did was gawk cluelessly at him as if he had gone insane his smile dropped, realisation creeping into his ice-blue eyes. "He never told you…"

"Never told us what?" Arthur demanded, sounding as annoyed as all of them were feeling.

"That he watches over you all and this kingdom whenever he can," Mordred answered with a degree of disbelief in his tone, actually causing an unprepared Morgana to recoil in her surprise with a soundless gasp. "That he has continued too for four years, almost every day. He stays in the sky out of sight, looking down at you all and assisting you whenever he can. Did you not grow suspicious when no sorcerer dared attack Camelot out of vengeance or hatred even once for the past four years?"

Arthur stepped forward to stand next to his sister. "I always thought it was because Camelot no longer executes or practices prejudice when it comes to those who use sorcery."

"No, Sire," Mordred had to reply. "It is because they know of the consequences should they choose to attack you. We all know that if we make an enemy of Camelot, then we make an enemy of him as well. He has made it perfectly clear, believe me."

Morgana was about as close to tears as she had been in four years, whereas Arthur on the other hand still found it highly confusing. "None of this makes any sense," He began, now circling the teenage druid. "James Regus doesn't know us, he told us as much himself. Why would he spend so much time protecting us when he doesn't know us?"

Mordred frowned, hard. "He told you that?" At their nods he scoffed to himself. "Well then, I'm sorry to tell you, but he lied-"

Morgana's warm hand slapping him across the face came as a shock to everyone present, even Morgana herself. Her lips parted as she watched him place a soft hand on his cheek and turn back to her, since the force of the blow had forced him to turn his head to the side. Arthur hung his head with a small pout of his lips, knowing all too well how his sister detested the theory that James Regus ever lied to her despite the growing evidence.

But as always she mastered her expressions, and soon she was glaring daggers at the boy. "How dare you," she breathed, lips quivering in her rage. It was when he opened his mouth to reply that she continued. "Where's Anna? She will stay here until he comes and collects her himself."

To say Mordred was a little stunned would be understatement, but he finally let his hand drop so he could speak. "That's why I'm here. As I said before James left instructions to come here and ask for your help if anything happened, and I'm afraid something has happened," he said quietly, still naturally reeling. "The Saxons have…taken her."

"Taken her!?" Morgana screeched. "Why? And where too?"

"It's their plan to use Anna as bait, to lure our prince into a trap and leave him to rot in the dungeons of Turf," He informed them.

"The dungeons of Turf?" Gaius finally spoke up, a distinct gleam in his eyes that made Morgana's heart race even faster than before.

"Speak your mind, Gaius," Arthur instructed, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Well, Sire, I sincerely hope that I am mistaken," The elderly physician began to explain. "But the dungeons of turf are perhaps the most dangerous dungeons of all."

Morgana was sure she was going to explode. How much was she supposed to take in one morning? Even if a bear came charging through the doors of the throne room she doubted she could get more scared. "How so?" She finally asked.

"It's a labyrinth, My Lady, and a magical one at that," Gaius explained. "Back in the time of old it was rumoured to have been a prison for those who displeased the priestesses of the old religion. It is said that it is impossible to escape, that the magic embedded within the labyrinth attacks you if you even attempt it. Powerful, ancient and terrible dark magic. Those who spend even a day there have been known to go insane."

Arthur took a deep, calming breath. "But wouldn't the prisoner starve or die of thirst after a few days?"

"The magic forces them to keep living," Gaius supplied with some reluctance. "As I said, the magic is both powerful and terrible."

Morgana whirled on Arthur, her eyes desperate, and he responded as he had always done. "Is there a way to retrieve someone without them getting lost in it as well?"

She had never loved her brother more than at that very moment.

"Not that I'm aware of, Sire," Gaius answered, shrugging. "Only the priestesses of the old religion knew how, and even then it was hundreds of years ago."

Mordred nodded. "Morgause is there now, trying to find a way."

"And I will assist her," Morgana added before she had given herself time to think. She was supposed to meet Merlin and help him release Imi from the void, but she couldn't leave now. Anna was her sister, whether people knew it or not, and apparently James didn't even know about it. Right now, she and Morgause were Anna's best chance at survival. _How _could James leave her like that? She was furious with him!

"Morgana," Arthur began, his tone reeking of caution. "I think it's time to use that necklace around your neck, the one James gave you that can call to him."

Her gaze travelled down until they met with James Regus's chain, her fingers coming up to grasp the beautiful eye pendant. More than anything else she wanted to call him. She had done all day. But now wasn't the time, not if this was a trap designed for him. "No. This was a trap meant just for him. If he finds out then you know what he'll do, he'll run right into that dungeon blinded by his concern for Anna and end up down there forever. Our best chance is me and Morgause. We are all that is left of the priestesses, we will find a way."

"I fear he will do more than that," Mordred spoke in a quiet voice, earning their attention. "The whole magical world knows not to touch Anna Regus. Most are even afraid to think about her, just in case the prince can hear their thoughts from afar. The Saxons are a brutal race of warriors, but they don't deserve what he will do to them."

That little statement left them feeling cold. He was right. The Saxons were harsh in their strategies, but if James knew that they had taken his little girl…well, not even Malum could stop him. What chance did they have?

"You're right," Arthur finally relinquished. "I know you can take care of yourself these days Morgana, but I want you to take Gwaine with you. It will be good if you have someone you can trust," With the last word his eyes snapped over to stare down Mordred, who averted his gaze at the not-so-subtle slur. "Gwaine? Are you up for it?"

In full-force the knights cheeky grin made a grand appearance. "You know me, Sire. I'm always up for it."

"Of course you are," The black haired beauty humoured with a tiny smirk.

"Good, then we're agreed," Arthur finalised. "Make sure you bring Anna home, and then we can worry about finding James. In the meantime I'll go and find Merlin before he gets himself killed. I think I deserve to kill him myself after everything he's put me through."

"You'll go? As in just you?" Morgana questioned, sending him a blazing glare. "Arthur-"

"I am just as capable as that idiot you call an ear shaped idiot," Arthur teased.

"I've literally never said that," She chastised. "Besides Camelot needs you here, otherwise the people will look to Uther for guidance."

"In my absence Camelot will consult Guinevere for matters of state, not my father," He replied, a slight smile on his face. "There's no need to worry about Camelot or me."

"But I do," she responded with lightning speed. "Whether you admit it or not we all know you will put yourself in harms' way if it means protecting Merlin, even if he is immortal. It's who you are."

Arthur smiled at his sister, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Then we have something in common," he planted a kiss to her forehead before pulling back to stare at her once more. "Now go, bring Anna home and then we'll bring James home too. I'll go and get the clot pole."

"That's his word," she smirked back at him.

"That's why it suits him so well," he joked. "Now come on, let's go get the family."

* * *

Merlin held Bella's strand of hair in between his index finger and thumb, his ocean blue eyes transfixed on it. Who would have thought such a small, seemingly insignificant thing could be so important – but it was. To him, it was everything. On one hand it was part of his little girl, Bella, and on the other it was what would bring Imi back to him. This one small strand of hair owned his soul, something he was not blind to.

The flash of a sudden bolt of lightning and the foreboding growl of thunder shuddering through the earth underneath his feet caused him to jolt away from his trance. His eyes now shot up to the sky, his forehead wrinkling in his concern. The sun was still shinning, though it was now higher in the sky, being closer to noon than the morning.

So then where had the thunder come from?

"We must hurry, Merlin," Kilgharrah's mighty declaration boomed out, earning the young Warlocks attention. "I have a suspicion that something is very wrong in the world."

Merlin bounced his eyebrows. "Why do I have the same feeling?" he muttered back.

* * *

Morgana gazed up at the heavens at the crash of thunder rumbling through the earth, halting her horse in its travels. On either side of her both Gwaine and Mordred came to a steady stop and mimicked her movements, both men turning concerned gazes toward the clouds.

The black haired beauty scowled at the calm blue and gentle glow of the sky. "Where did that come from?" She asked no one in particular, still looking for a storm cloud hovering anywhere in the sky. It had to have come from somewhere.

Gwaine shook his head. "I have no idea," he replied in a gentle, yet cautious tone. "But why do I feel like changing my armour?"

"Oh for…Gwaine, don't make me lose a breakfast I didn't even have," Morgana chided, her face scrunching up in a display of revulsion.

Mordred on the other hand didn't look repulsed. On the contrary, he looked up at the sky with a mixture of suspicion and outright fear, a cold liquid sensation flowing down through his body. "We need to hurry, now," he ordered with some urgency. "Before he discovers everything that's happened."

Morgana snapped her head round to look at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, calm down," Gwaine added. "It's just a little thunder. No need to go hiding under your sheets."

"That wasn't thunder, Sir Gwaine," He spat back, eyes now shinning. "Have you never once heard of the wrath of Thor?"

Morgana felt all her breath leave her, almost as if it had been sucked out by some kind of hollow vacuum. "What did you just say?" She gasped, her skin trembling so hard she could feel every twitch.

"_Because the moment draws near, and all shall know who you truly adore, for fate would have given you the chance Morgana…to banish your love for the one and only Thor_."

Clotho, the sister of fate, she had called James Thor. If memory served she had actually named him Almighty Thor, and had impossibly predicted some form a torrid love affair. After the initial disgust she had brushed it off, assuming the Goddess had taken a dislike to her and simply lied to try and crush her spirit. But she was right. Well, at least about the title of Thor…so what did that mean about everything else she had said?

"Morgana!" Mordred's voice jerked her violently out of her own head and brought her crashing back down to the real world. "We have to get there before he does! Because believe me, once he finds out what the Saxons have done to his sister, there will be nothing on heaven or Earth that will stop him! Now come on!"

And with that the young druid reared his horse and charged away, Gwaine hot on his heels. Morgana forced herself to follow, feeling slightly numb. Mordred was right. They had to rescue Anna before James discovered the entire truth, because wherever he was, she knew from first-hand experience what would happen.

A vengeance like no other.

* * *

Gwen looked out of her window as the thunder rumbled through the very floor she stood on, her hand coming down to run over her bulging stomach with a gentle stroke. She was soon joined by Gaius and little Bella, the girl pushing her small hands and face right up against the glass.

"Strange," Gwen murmured, a slight frown on her face. "The weather is as bright as I've ever seen it."

"Indeed, my Lady," Gaius hummed.

The Queen of Camelot turned curious eyes onto the physician. "A theory, Gaius?"

"I'm afraid not," Gaius answered honestly. "I haven't seen anything like that in all my years."

Young Isabella pulled her lightly frightened face back from the cold glass. "Grandpa Gaius?" She enquired softly, using the nickname for the elderly physician that she had used since she had been able to speak.

"Yes, my girl?"

"The thunder feels angry," she moaned, grabbing a hold of her Aunt Gwen's waiting hand in an attempt to seek some comfort. "So angry. It scares me."

Gaius frowned down at the girl at her choice of words. Granted, at the age of four her vocabulary was somewhat limited, but that only made it more curious. Of course it was not uncommon for children to fear thunder and lightning, in fact her mother used to be terrified of it as a child herself, and he had heard the phrase many times from her. Only like all children, Morgana had said the storm or thunder had _sounded _angry. Bella had said it had _felt _angry. For some reason it made the hairs on back of his neck stand on end.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Gwen soothed the girl in that as always motherly tone.

Gaius however turned back to the window to the view the great outdoors, unnerved to say the least. "For heavens' sake, Merlin," he muttered. "Be careful."

* * *

"I do not believe the witch is coming, Merlin," Kilgharrah finally announced, as always earning himself a glare for his choice of titles for Morgana. "We cannot wait any longer. Perform the spell now or not at all."

Merlin sighed, concerned that the black haired beauty had not followed them as she had said she would. He had fully expected to see her come streaking across the sky, being carried by James Regus. He had even been looking forward to it. But for whatever reason she was being held back by something, and that scared him more than anything. After all, what could possibly keep her away from finally releasing Imi? But Kilgharrah was right. Something was wrong in the world, he could feel it, and they really couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"Merlin!" Sounded a male cry from behind him.

He spun wildly around in hope, anticipation pounding through him, and felt it wither and die when he saw Arthur's furious expression marching toward him. "Arthur?"

"Oh, so you do remember me?" The fair haired king yelled back, finally reaching them and casting a worried glance at the mighty Kilgharrah. "Hello there…dragon," he mumbled awkwardly.

Kilgharrah bowed his head somewhat. "King Arthur, as always a true honour," The great Dragon welcomed.

"Right…" Arthur trailed off, still even after all these years uncomfortable around the ancient beast. He turned back to a lightly amused Merlin and decided to ruin his day. He did that. A lot. Some say he enjoyed it. "So this is what Morgana tried to convince me was you running errands for Gaius? When will you two learn that those excuses don't work anymore?"

Merlin shrugged. "Did she at least try the tavern?"

"She did," Arthur replied quickly with a smug pout. "I was more inclined to believe that one, but I proved too smart for that as well. I had Gwaine ensure you weren't in the tavern before my sister even attempted it. You can't fool me, Merlin."

Merlin nodded to himself. "Gwen suggested it, didn't she?"

"Yes she did," he fired back, not even remotely ashamed for trying to take credit for his wife's deeds. But then, as always, the humour seemed to fall away as Arthur took in their current situation. "What are you doing Merlin? Why are we here?"

The young Warlock hung his head. It was hard to lie to Arthur when he wasn't yelling like a prat. "Morgana had a vision this morning. She saw Imi in serious danger. It looked like she was going to die, and it occurred to me that maybe that's why the fates told us she had to be left in there for five years. Maybe they knew that's how long it would take her to die in the void, and I can't let that happen, Arthur, I just can't."

Arthur allowed his eyes to close in frustration, his hands coming up to rest on his hips as he pondered his advisors words. "There are other, far more crucial reasons for her release, Arthur Pendragon," Kilgharrah attempted to persuade the king further, earning his attention.

"Such as?" Arthur enquired.

"Destiny," was his only response. "I cannot go into detail at this time, but it is important that Imogen Pendragon and another be released from their prison. I'm afraid we must do this."

The king frowned up at the Dragon. "Release another? Who are you talking about?"

"Arthur," Merlin caught his attention once more. "I know we don't like the word, but I beg of you, as my friend, you have to let me do this."

Arthur shook his head. "Merlin-"

"Please, Arthur," The young warlock tried again, shrugging his shoulders and allowing his eyes to flood with moisture. He couldn't hold it back any more. "Please," he whispered one last time.

Arthur released a heavy, annoyed sigh and tensed his jaw – having to turn away and shake his head. The consequences would be severe. He knew it, and he knew Merlin knew it. Besides it wasn't as if he didn't want to see his niece again either, but he had a kingdom and its citizens to protect as well, not just his friends' feelings. "Fine," he reluctantly conceded, much to the surprise of Merlin. Just when the young warlock looked about ready to embrace him he held up his hands. "Let's just do this, alright? Touch me and I may just change my mind."

A small laugh escaped Merlin's smiling lips. "Deal. Kilgharrah?" He prompted the great dragon, holding up the hair caught on his collar and throwing it up into the air.

Kilgharrah sucked in a voracious amount of air, his neck recoiling like a snake, before he threw his head forward and unleashed a magnificent stream of flames from his epicly proportioned jaw. The flames connected with the hair and consumed it, engulfing the tiny strand in a sea of fire and heat. The blast continued on through the wind, until it seemed to hit some form of invisible wall. Merlin and Arthur watched on in amazement as everything seemed to move in slow motion, the very fabric of the air around them stretching until it finally ripped in two.

"Sweet Mercy," Arthur nearly screamed, eyes fixed on the tearing air to reveal another world hiding just in between. A fierce pulse of wind exploded from the whole created, one that nearly knocked the duo of their feet, and then continued to try. They might have been concerned had they not been so utterly hypnotized by the tearing air. It was sort of like watching a bed sheet tear, the mattress beneath it beginning to emerge from between the cracks, only it was the air they breathed instead of some crummy bed sheet, and the mattress beneath was another world inhabited by the fiercest monsters known (or unknown) to man.

Finally, eventually, the tear grew so big that it stretched into the form of some giant gateway. It scaled about fifty feet high, and its width managed about half of that…but there was no Imi in sight. In fact there was no one in sight. Merlin scowled, hard, and rounded on the Dragon.

"Where is she!?" He had to yell above the fierce gale pounding at his back, the raw power of it still almost enough to completely sweep him off his feet.

"I am not James Regus, Merlin!" Kilgharrah called back, even he having to squint his yellow reptilian gaze. "Not every being on this earth can perform the impossible! You and Arthur must journey into the void if you wish to retrieve her!"

Merlin's eyes managed to stretch wide open despite the fierce gale. What did he mean journey into the void? Had the dragon finally lost his mind after all these years? He whirled around to face the gateway when the sound of war cries managed to reach his ears, only to see around a dozen men charging toward the open gateway from within the void. He had to admit he was scared. The men were not numerous, but each of them were absolutely massive. Easily twice the size of Arthur.

He turned to view his king, seeing his own apprehension mirrored in the other mans' eyes. However Arthur, seeing the stubbornness in his friends gaze hiding underneath the fear, let out a low growl. "Fine," he spat out, throwing off his cape and angrily withdrawing Excalibur. "But in case this is the last time I ever get to say it, I hate you Merlin. I really do."

"I understand," The young warlock nodded. "Thank you anyway."

Arthur gave a shake of his head. "I'm not doing it for you."

Merlin nodded yet again, understanding what he meant. The two men turned away from each other and toward the gateway, facing the oncoming stampede of monstrous warriors. "For Imi," Merlin muttered to himself.

Arthur took a deep, steadying breath. "For Imi," he agreed.

And that, it seemed, was that. The duo pounced of the ground, running toward the danger, both ready to lay down their lives in order to get either their daughter or niece returned to them. And they would succeed. They had to.

For Imogen.

* * *

SO there we are? In the next chapter: Merlin and Arthur find much more in the void than either bargained for; Morgana sacrifices something important to save Anna and all hell breaks loose in Camelot. Please review telling me what you thought as I'm slightly anxious that I'm not gonna get as many reviews as I did before lol I'm shallow, I know this.


	2. He Who Was Born Great

Hello Thar! No, don't worry, I haven't become a pirate…despite the title of this story…and the parrot on my shoulder…and all the raping and pillaging. It's a hobby of mine. So after the last chapter I was able to kick it up gear with this one, after laying all the emotional groundwork before, and finally write about the void. Plus there are two new characters in it that will both play a major role in the over-all plot.

Also two things to address. I got PM's and one thing was repeatedly brought up through most of them. People seemed to want to know when I would be doing one of the weird chapters again like I did in the reasons for treason (Wish upon a Warlock, Danger in the Darkness etc) and the answer is very soon. The next two chapters will really be dealing with the void, the dungeons of Turf and the consequences of Merlin and Morgana's decision but as soon as I can (maybe chapter 5?) so don't worry if you like them. Another was how much people seemed to miss my odd little disclaimer thing that I did in the last story. I didn't know people even noticed it so I didn't think to bring it in, but if you like them then I'll do it.

Anyway, as promised, onto your wonderful reviews:

**Paladinobr:** Thank you :P Yeah Morgana does have deep feelings for James, but in what way remains the question. Am I messing with you or not is the better the question lol but personally I love worrying and deciphering things whenever I read, so I guess I'm hoping other people do too. Merlin will DEFINITELY pay the price for what he's done, but due to quite a few people being angry at him I decided to explain his actions in more depth in this chapter. Anyways thanks for taking the time to come over to this story and review it, it really does mean a lot, so thank you.

**Chase:** Hello! Yeah I know it took me a while. I had two exams and wouldn't allow myself to write for this in the meantime so I could revise properly, and even after that it's over 13,000 words long so it takes me a while. I am pleased that you're interested enough to ask me to update sooner tho :P Am I sick? Yes, yes I am – and I'm not even sorry for it :P Oh I've just seen your other review :P Wow two thank you. I'm glad you liked the reasons for treason and also glad to hear you liked Gwaine's "Two Dragons" quip :P Anyways as I said, I'm pleased you like it so far and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Thank you.

**Seddie Lover:** Hey, great to hear from you again, although I'm glad I finally made someone shriek it's a small ambition of mine I admit. And I missed writing for these characters and reading your reviews as well, but yeah the disclaimer. As I said above I had a few PM's about that which I wasn't really prepared for lol I didn't think people actually noticed it so I thought I'd save myself a few seconds per chapter, but I will start it again in this chapter, I swear. As for the whole bafflement at the beginning of the first chapter then don't worry, I want you to be. You're not supposed to understand it yet, or for a good long time for that matter. Although it will become apparent probably towards the end. A lot of people are angry at Merlin and Morgana at the moment, so I've explained their reasoning a bit more in this chapter – but aside from that we all know they make very bad choices anyway – so it's a bit of both. Though yes, in my opinion, they are stupid :P No I've also had a lot of people demanding James come back lol which was again a bit of a surprise. I wasn't going to bring him in for another few chapters but we'll see. Lol yeah James and Morgana, but did I mean an affair or is that how people and the characters are perceiving it? One thing you learn in psychology is the importance of individual perception, and that's all I'm giving you. As for the Bella/Imi catfight for James there will be none…in this story Bella is four years old after all lol but James attracts hero worship so maybe that will be the limit. Does my fiancé know about the offers of first born daughters? Absolutely not, and we're going to keep it that aren't we? Ay? AY!? No I don't want to make you cry by updating late lol I'm doing my best I swear. Rosie's fine, thanks. Had a bit of a scare with her choking in her sleep but according to the doctors it was a one-time thing…although that didn't stop me hanging around outside her door for a month lol but so far so good. And thanks for the assurance about reviews. I was a bit worried considering how many the last got, and if people weren't interested in this one it would be my fault :P So was a bit worried, but thank you for all your kind words and I sincerely hope this chapter doesn't let the "Faithful" down :P Thanks so much.

**MaryandMerlin:** Hey! It really was excellent to hear from you again I must admit. Ah, I had exams myself after I posted these so I understand. Two in two weeks so a lot of revising in between. Lol Yes family CoLdBlAdE are fine, thanks. You know a lot of girls have been saying how much they want a baby whenever they've seen Rose but so far no one wants to buy her! Insane right? It's not like I'm charging massive amounts either! Yes the bedtime history lesson was always how I was going to start it, and yeah I did used to tell my sisters stories when she was a bit younger. Her favourite was the three stupid lions :P then she got old and annoying. Yeah Morgana's vision, I enjoyed writing that, and it was still of the future which I'll explain further in this chapter. Was the mysterious Him Imi was thinking about James or that child saviour? I guess I'll leave it up to you to decide :P Evil, yes, but you should know that already. And come on, would I ever kill off Imi? That's absurd… :) Lol four way between James, Morgana, Imi and Bella? So that's pretty vile, but then again I've got no one to blame but myself I guess. And yeah there won't be any James/Bella stuff. She is four after all. It's gonna be more like how Imi described her relationship with James in reasons for treason of when she was growing up. A sort of hero worship (because that's what James attracts most) and her parents crazy friend, certainly no romance yuk! Yeah Mordred and Morgause were brought it because after series 5 I felt it was impossible not to include Mordred, plus I was already thinking about it, and Morgause is also Anna's half-sister and I want a whole Morgana/Anna/Morgause sister thing going on in this story. Let's be honest, Anna deserves more than just James to help her, and plus she'll be growing up and she needs those female role models – as well as moving away from James quite a bit. It's what happens when you grow up :P The dungeons of turf will be explored better in the next chapter, for this one it's more about the efforts to free Anna and setting up how the three sisters will be together. Yeah "Thor" will be appearing soon, and there is a reason he left Anna that will be explored later. Pretty much everyone apart from Morgana suspects he lied now about remembering them, but after he told her his biggest secret it's hard for her to accept that he would lie to her like everyone else, and no one is really sure if he did or didn't. Yeah Merlin in the show tends to do stupid things even if he thinks their wrong, and even though he's convinced himself Imi needs to be saved he also suspects he may be wrong – and Arthur is just being dragged along lol You'd like to see some James/Imi fluff? I do enjoy writing them together I must admit, because like Imi said in the reasons for treason, she hates him for the same reasons she loves him so their fun. Lol we'll see about the Morgana/James thing. I have a plan for that which I can't deviate from, but I hope you won't be disappointed. Oh I got even more plot twists in store for this story :P in fact I've already set a few of them up, so really looking forward to that. Ok, let's check out these four theories of yours. 1) You think Morgan is of no relation to Morgana and I just wanted to throw you off? Wow, so you know me well lol but at the same time WRONG! Maybe… 2) The mysterious him Imi was thinking of is her son? You know what? I'm gonna cut you some slack and tell you…that this answer is in this chapter :P though I don't refer to it per say. 3) Imi is in no danger at all and Merlin/Morgana are just being stupid parents? Well, again, I give you a hint in this chapter and answer it in the next chapter. 4) James already knows everything that happened because he's awesome? Well, yes, he is awesome and you know what? Yes. He does know everything that's going on…mostly…but he's a bit preoccupied with running around cleaning up after people as you'll see. I agree mostly with what you said about the fifth series, especially with Arthur finding out about Merlin's magic sooner than he did, or at least make one more series where Mordred would have a better reason to want to kill Arthur and as you said, Arthur would have been able to really unite albion including sorcerers. But we get what we get, and it was still pretty good. No one likes endings. They're always supposed to bring everything together and make sense of everything that's happened which is almost impossible. A Merlin movie? It does sound like a rumour, but please let me know if anything comes of it. Anyways there we are! Thank you so so much for such a wonderful review and I hope I don't let you down. Thanks again.

**StormQueen6711:** Hey! Yeah I do have a plan to sort through all of these problems :P and I hope they're good…I hope lol Anyways thanks for taking the time to review. Each one means a lot to me so thank you.

**Reka Leaf:** Lol thanks. Ok, so you're quickly becoming my favourite :P although I should warn you my head is already too big for most hats so careful with those very welcome words of praise. Oh hey, you don't need to write a long review. The fact that you took the time to leave anything means the world, and since your review was so wonderful then let me say thank you very very much, and I hope that this chapter doesn't let you down.

**Whitepurity:** Oh yes! I'm back! I would say with a vengeance but frankly the shame would kill me. I do have a few things planned yeah :P and in fact there is a glaringly obvious one I was so worried people would see straight through, but no one did! As in no one, so I'm very happy now. Please don't go back and re-read it :P Yeah I thought it felt a bit rushed, in fact until the finale I was kind of expecting another series…but yeah then Arthur died. Kinda kills it a bit. Anyways thanks so much for coming over from the last story and reviewing this one. I was a bit worried people were going dislike like this one and it be blaringly obvious through reviews, but so far so good. Let's hope I don't ruin it now :P Thanks again, and hope you enjoy this chapter.

**SImranbegum12345:** Hope I got the name correct? To be honest I do most of these from memory so please don't hate me. Also thanks :P There is a reason I started it like that which won't become clear until the final chapters. A lot of people are anxious about the whole Morgana/James thing. In fact most people have mentioned it, and I should be ashamed to say it's on purpose…but I'm not :P Either way they are becoming alarmingly close, and I will use that at a vital point later, but as for how I can't tell you without ruining it. Anyways thank you so much for your review and I really do hope this chapter keeps it up. Thanks again.

**MerganaLover:** Yes I'm back! As are you which I'm pleased about :D Thanks for sticking with me. Indeed I have set things up which hopefully remained hidden, and I will in this chapter too, though not as many. This one will be more action and revelation, and introducing two new characters. Yeah a lot of people seemed to like Bella which I'm pleased about, and we'll find out a little bit more about her character in this. I always like the maternal side to Morgana, which was always seen when Mordred was around and they brought back a little in series 5, but I wanted more :P Merlin is indeed breaking the rules because that's what Merlin does, and I'll explain why he's done it a little more in this chapter. Yeah I too was angry with what they did to Morgana, although I liked what they did with the rest of it despite the rushing and everything. In the legends Morgana has a change of heart and she is the one who takes Arthur into Avalon to try and save him, so I was really looking forward to that. Oh well though right? I can still use this to get what I want :P Yep, the plot unravels a little more in this chapter and as I said, two new characters who will be important are introduced. Anyways as always, thanks so so much for reviewing. It really means a lot to me.

**The-supernatural-way:** Hey! Love the name. Are you a fan of supernatural? Because it's one of my favourite shows. It's what inspired me to do the weird chapters people have been asking me to repeat, because of the trickster ones they did mainly. In fact I've even got my own trickster coming up soon because I couldn't resist lol Anyways thanks for your frankly brilliant review and hope this chapter does it for you too. Thanks again.

**Mergana:** Hey! Nice to see you again. Don't worry, James and Imi will meet again soon, and there will be a lot of Mergana in this story. They just have their own missions at the moment as I don't want them to just become a couple and lose their own identities. Thanks again.

**No name:** Hello thar! Thanks so much for taking the time to review and hope it lives up to that promising :P Thanks again.

**KingleyCrab:** Ok I have to ask, where does that name come from? Lol sorry but I'm one of those people whose curiosity borders on insanity. And thank you for your review. I hope I don't let you down.

**AfricanVintage:** Love your name too. What is it with you people and great names? And thanks, it good to be back. I hope the rest suits you and thanks so much for taking the time to review.

**MotherEarth02:** Hey! How goes things? Haven't heard from you in a bit, but glad to see the last chapter went down so well :P And by the way, that "OH MY HOLY NORSE GODESS" thing made me laugh right in front of my most banterific friend, sometimes known as the arsehole :P So thanks. Yeah a lot of people seem to miss James but he will be back, probably sooner than I had anticipated considering the surprising demand for him. Yeah Bella jumping on Arthur's bed to wake him up was something my little sister used to do to me, and because you love them they get away with it. Or emotional blackmail as I like to call it lol All it takes is the puppy dog eyes. Yeah Imi's destiny was something I wanted to fit in in the last story but was afraid I'd already packed in too much, so I slid it in this one, and you'll see a bit of it in this chapter…as well as another tid bit :P Anyways as always I simply adore hearing from you, and I really hope I don't let you down with this chapter. Thanks so much again.

**Narutoske:** Thanks :P and good to see you again. Yeah new plot, and new characters in this chapter. I hope you like them both :P but we'll see, haven't really gone into too much detail with the characters yet. Yep it's all gonna be in it. Adventures, weird and kinda spooky enemies and a lot of faith and sacrifices :P I like that kinda thing. Ah Mordred, yeah well you'll have to wait and see. Arthur still hasn't told Merlin that he was there yet and where Morgana is, since they're kind of busy, but it will all come out. The modern world will play a vital role towards the end, but again I can't tell you why yet as it would give away quite a lot. Yeah Morgause and Morgana will sort of be on the same side, and with Anna I have a whole three sister dynamic going on in my head, because since Anna is growing up she'll wanting to spend time with more female role models rather than her insane guardian :P which will be very fun to write. Anyways thanks for you review and it really means a lot for you to come over from the last story to read this one. Thanks again.

Ok! There we are. Those if you who asked if I could do the weird disclaimer again then this is for you. I hope you enjoy! Although I wasn't kidding about if anyone wanted to use any of my characters like James, Imi and Anna. Just let me know and you can use them. Like I said, fan created characters of Merlin :P

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of its characters, and they say that Gandalf is Merlin's retarded gay niece…from Holland. **

* * *

Chapter 2 – He Who Was Born Great

The bells were ringing.

Gwen's head snapped up to look at the ceiling of her chambers, her usually soft brown eyes wide with alarm. Camelot's warning bells echoed in her ear. Somehow they always managed to ignite a storm of panic from somewhere deep within her, ever since they had resonated for her father when he had tried to escape his execution. Little Bella looked up as well, having been playing innocently enough on the floor with her Aunt Gwen's many shoes.

"Why are they winging, Aunt Gwen?" The girl asked, her tone scared, and the fact that she still couldn't pronounce her 'R's correctly made Gwen all the more protective of her.

"I don't know, honey," Gwen attempted to sound calm and collected, grabbing the girls' hand as the two stood. "But I do know that we're going to be just fine, alright?"

Bella seemed to judge her Aunt's gaze with her fearful, glistening one. Eventually however the little girl nodded. "Alright," she replied in a terrified little voice. This was the first time she had heard the bells ringing, but she knew what they meant. It meant Camelot was in trouble. Only this was the first time it had happened in her lifetime, and her Mummy and Daddy weren't here to reassure her. Not even her Uncle Arthur was here. Her grip tightened on her Aunt Gwen's hand, determined not to lose her as well.

As if on cue the doors to the royal chambers were thrown open, and in stepped Sir Leon. "My lady, we have a problem."

Gwen gave a sharp nod. "Yes, what is it?"

"Well, it's sort of difficult to describe," Leon struggled, his face scrunching up in his battle to find the correct words. "But it appears as if Camelot is under attack by some manner of…creature fleet."

The young Queen had to shake her head a little. "A fleet of creatures? What does that mean?"

"As it sounds, my Lady," Leon persevered. "A stampede of creatures I've never seen before are at our gates, and we're going to have to act fast if we are to preserve the citadel."

Gwen was not only confused, but scared as well – two emotions that never mixed well together. Where had these supposed creatures come from? Why were they attacking Camelot? What would Arthur do? She blinked back her fear and steadied the knight with her most composed stare. "Then act we must. Try and save as many people as you can from the outlining villages, but Camelot must be our main priority. Ready all the archers available and arm the first patrol with spears. If these creatures are indeed as peculiar as you say then they may be our best chance."

Leon nodded sharply. "I agree."

"I'll leave you to decide what the army should be armed with," Gwen added. "Send guards to bring Uther and Gaius to the throne room. Their experience will be invaluable."

Leon was already backing away by the time she had finished. "Right away, my lady," he obeyed, and with that ran from the room. Gwen took a deep breath to steady her fluctuating nerves. She didn't want to call Uther, but the once king was a supreme strategist in warfare. She had to look beyond her own discomfort when Camelot needed her too. With one more calming breath she moved over to the window, dragging little Bella with her, and allowed her eyes to flutter closed.

"Aunt Gwen?" Bella began gently. "Why are you closing your eyes?"

Gwen smiled down at the girl, hoping it showed all of her affection for her. "That man who came earlier, Mordred, said an old friend of ours had spent the last four years watching over us and keeping us safe," she answered, turning back to stare out the window. "I'm praying that he still is."

Bella scowled. She was only four but she wasn't stupid. How could a single man save them from so many monsters, unless… "Is he a magic man?"

The laugh that escaped the Queen was completely involuntary. "If you mean is he a sorcerer, then yes. But he likes to think he's magic in other ways too, and sometimes, he really can be."

"Is he the thunder man too?" She enquired, earning a frown from the Queen.

"The thunder man?" She asked back, a slight smile tugging at her lips. What on earth was a thunder man? "Not that I know of, but he is your Uncle Arthur's cousin. He even brought him back from the dead once right in front of me. If anyone can help us now, it's him."

Bella's frown was still firmly in place despite her Aunt's words, but eventually turned her bemused little eyes to gaze out the window. The army was assembling. Archers, guards, warriors and knights were all gathering and running off in different directions to their positions. She had never seen so many people before. It frightened her even further, causing her to clutch the Queen's hand even tighter and close her own eyes.

"Please save us, magic man."

* * *

Arthur plunged his sword into the gut of one of the many beasts that had shown up after he and Merlin had entered the void. The pure insanity and variety of their surroundings was overwhelming. The moment they had stepped into this world they had had to collect themselves. The sky was smothered in menacing dark clouds, all clashing together in the blood red sky, and almost concealing the three moons hanging like weightless pale eyes in the vast ruby heavens. The grass was green, but appeared only in ugly unkempt patches on the numerous hills. Not one piece of earth was completely flat, and the segments without grass were scorched bone dry, similar to that of a dessert. Clearly this had been the home to many crusades over time.

Jagged but mighty looking mountains were the only sign that the battle scorched land ever ended, and even they were so far away that you had to focus in order to make them out. Even the air was different here. Upon their rather abrupt arrival they had immediately realised the air was actually heavier, like several men trying to pull them down to the ground at once. It was thick with a heat they couldn't place, making even breathing a chore as they fought for their lives. To their right lay a forest so dark the leaves themselves were jet black, and to their left the remnants of what had clearly once been some form of castle, one that had long ago been forgotten and had eroded away into near nothingness.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, compared with the monsters that had appeared from every conceivable angle to attack them. From every shape, every colour, from every possible nightmare from which they had come – most even seemingly a combination of some species they knew back in their world. Most of them reptilian and insect in origin. All of them mammoth in their size. After they had fought their way through the giants pretending to be human warriors, they had been almost stampeded by these creatures, their attention focused more on the open gateway than on them. It was the only reason they were still alive. Kilgharrah had performed some form of spell that had kept them firmly in the void, but a fleet had escaped before the mighty dragon could even flinch and most had headed in the direction of Camelot.

Arthur had NOT been pleased.

"I _hate _you, Merlin!" He cried, carving out another monsters innards as it attempted to leap over them.

Merlin threw up his outstretched palm, and with a burning gold flash in his eyes sent three scorpion like creatures thundering back. "You mentioned that already!" He had to call back. Strange howls and calls were emitting from everywhere around them. The only way the young warlock could describe it was pure, unfiltered chaos. Creatures were soaring through the air, charging past and over them, some trying to claim them as a meal on their way.

Chaos.

"I hate your face!" Arthur continued, furiously cutting down a vine that had grown up from the soil under his feet and had tried to wrap itself around his leg. Even the vegetation here was hostile. "I hate your ears! I hate your stupid little scarf that you never take off! I hate the girlish way in which you run! But most of all, _Mer_lin, I hate the way you breathe! Because it is with this _breathing _that you have learnt to talk and in doing so decided to ruin my life!"

The young warlock grabbed a hold of his kings' arm and attempted to pull him forwards, trying his best to guide them through the oncoming stampede nightmares were made of. "That's a little punitive!" He still had to yell despite being right next to him now.

Arthur ground his teeth together. "Oh great! Big words! It's that time of year again is it?"

"It means harsh-!"

"I know what it means!" Arthur heatedly interrupted. "How about shutting up and starting to thinking of where Imi might be! That way we can get her back, survive and then return to what's left of my kingdom before the big scary monsters you released eat it all!"

In spite of his, as always, irritating way of getting points across, Arthur had actually raised a valid argument. All they were doing was surviving here, and that was because he had no idea where to turn to next. How was he to know where Imi was? This place was an utterly different world to the one he knew. He had no idea how to even begin navigating it.

"I don't know where to go!" He finally admitted, fully expecting the look of utter rage to spread across his kings' face. "I'm sorry!"

"Well I'll be sure to remember that as I cut off your head!" Arthur ground out, bringing his finger violently across his own throat. "Let's see how well your scarf of ridiculousness does then!"

Merlin finally snapped. "Some of us need it to keep warm! We don't all have huge fat necks to support our giant heads!"

"You wear it in summer!" Arthur fought back.

"Gwen likes it!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Merlin shrugged. "Just saying!"

A terrible cavalcade of thunderous roars managed to overpower the already chaotic rumble surrounding them, causing the two to whip around and stare at the sky. There, circling like a wake of vultures, were over twenty fully grown Dragons soaring just beneath the dark mesh of clouds. Needless to say the duo simultaneously gulped, and they weren't sure if it was simply paranoia, but they could have sworn they were being stalked.

Merlin shook his head, lips parted. "I don't think I can command that many at the same time," he murmured just loud enough for his comrade to hear, and earned himself the instant attention from him.

"Are you serious?" Arthur hissed, threw a fleeting but fearful glance at the lowering dragons, and turned back to Merlin with a heavy sigh. "They're getting closer."

The young warlock took two bold steps forward, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as he could. "Oh Dragons! **Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai!**" He roared out, as always forcing Arthur to shudder. However it seemed to have more of an effect on the fair haired royal than the Dragons, as only a few seemed to acknowledge his command. Merlin released a sharp breath of annoyance. He didn't know about the complexities of being a Dragonlord. He had only ever had to command one at a time before, never a whole clan or tatsu or…he didn't even know the term for a group of Dragons!

"I don't think it worked," Arthur deadpanned.

The young warlock puffed out his cheeks. "I noticed," he replied, turning to the king when the ancient beasts suddenly swooped down on their position. "So, run then?"

"That's quite possibly the smartest thing you've ever said. Go!" On his command, the two charged off in the direction of the dark forest in search of cover, fully aware that they weren't fast enough to make it there before the dragons reached them.

"**Non didlkai! Kari miss! Epsipass imalla krat!**"

Merlin recognised it immediately. The roar that had echoed across the chaotic scene was unmistakable. It had been in the dragon tongue, it had sent chills through his entire body, but it hadn't been him who had uttered the ancient words of power. He threw a glance over his shoulder to see the mighty winged beasts fighting against the words, the front few of them having to upswing back up into the skies whilst shaking their heads.

"Merlin!" Arthur bellowed, using the tone the warlock knew to be one of warning.

He spun around and had to come skidding to a halt, because from out of the forest stepped two men with menacing frowns on their faces. The younger looking male had short jet black hair, tanned skin and ice-blue eyes. He was clearly still in his teenage years, but he still managed to vibrate authority with each step he took. The other man was older but no less intimidating. He had long brown hair and a thick beard, and together with his pale skin and an almost red tinge in his eyes proved a frightening sight.

But it was when the teenage stranger opened his mouth that Merlin felt his heart stop. "**Katostar abore ceriss! Katicur! Me ta sentende divoless!**"

Half of the remaining dragons let out a low, pained growl and shot back up to safety in the heavens. Merlin and Arthur turned back to the two new arrivals with equal measures of bewilderment, but again were still not prepared for what happened next. They doubted anyone would be. Because the older male with the beard ground his teeth together, slid off his long black coat…and morphed. Arthur actually let out a loud cry of panic as the once man's skin grew reptilian scales, massive yellow fangs expanded in his mouth, and his eyes shone a terrifying blood red. But the main reason for Arthurs cry was mainly due to the fact that it had grown into a massive serpent in the blink of an eye, snake like in its appearance, easily about thirty feet high and twice as long.

Arthur raised his sword out of instinct, his eyes wider and more afraid then they had ever been. But the younger male with ice-blue eyes merely raised his hand and threw him off to the side with a flick of his wrist.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled, raising his outstretched palm in the direction of the younger, assumingly human, male.

So here he was, in a world consumed by madness, aiming his hand at the only other Dragonlord in existence and a monster from the very nightmares he had had as a child. Two dragons were at his back, he was surrounded by creatures he couldn't even categorise…and that's when it happened. The dragons moved in on his position. The terrifying serpent lunged at him with lightning speed. Merlin barely had time to boggle his eyes before the monster had reached him, but to his utter surprise watched it soar over his head and attack one of the dragons.

The two beasts locked into battle, hissing and growling at each other in fierce displays of their own power. In fact he was so distracted by this spectacle that he didn't even notice the strange teenager stride up to stand next to him.

"**Nun de ge dei s'eikein kai emois epe'essin hepesthai! WEAS!**!" The boy roared, his chest heaving as he fought to release the mighty dragon tongue. The voice had belonged to a powerful, elderly sorcerer, not a skinny boy moving into his late teens. Merlin could only gape at him as the remaining two dragons released a thundering roar and sprung back up into the sky, retreating as the others had.

Merlin shook his head, flabbergasted and overwhelmed by what was happening around him. Had they saved him and Arthur? He wasn't even sure. His mind was struggling to wrap itself around everything. He had known coming to the void would be dangerous, but so far they had come across things they could have never fathomed, and they hadn't even been here an hour yet!

But then, just like that, the giant serpent shrunk back into the bearded man he had been before, having to slide his discarded long coat on to cover his now naked body. Together, the teenager and older man stormed up to him, eyes alive with danger.

"Who are you?" The bearded man questioned, his gruff tone intimidating enough without the knowledge that he could morph into a monster. "And answer quickly."

Merlin was breathing hard, this he was aware of. He chanced a glance at the teenager, more inclined to talk to him, but he just crossed his arms and stared him down with a glare. "Mer…my name is Merlin," he finally breathed out.

The older man nodded. "I am Jorma, the boy is known as Mars," Merlin looked to the boy again, who offered him a stern nod as his only welcome. "He rarely speaks, but trust me, he notices everything. Are you the ones who opened the gateway?"

Merlin gave a sharp nod. "Yes-"

"Why?" The man, apparently known as Jorma, demanded.

Merlin took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Clearly he was rather incensed. "I…we are looking for someone who was trapped in here four years ago," he began with his shaky explanation. "I'm going to bring her back to my world."

"Then you're a fool," Jorma hissed, reminding the young warlock of his serpent form. "You're idea of time means nothing here. This girl is probably dead by now."

Merlin found his inner strength at this, his mouth closing. "That _girl _is my daughter, and trust me, she isn't dead. Not yet."

Jorma took a threatening step toward him, but the ever silent Mars put out an arm to stop him. "No," was all he said, earning himself his comrade's appalled glare.

"Michael, these two are trouble," he sneered at the boy, eyes flashing red. "We would all do well to rid ourselves of them now."

Mars, or Michael, levelled the serpent with a steady look. "I said…no," he whispered back, and even Merlin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "He's not a threat."

"And how would you know?" Jorma demanded, now right in the younger man's face.

Mars merely fixed him with a stare that made Merlin want to flee, to run away and forget both Imi and Arthur. There was something powerful in those ice-blue eyes. Something hidden. Something that terrified him way more than it should have done. It tickled at his skin, as if a silent warning that a predator was masking itself in the long grass, waiting to pounce. Jorma seemed to sense the danger too, the bearded man taking a small step back and trying to hide his own gulp.

"After everything you have seen me do," Mars breathed, eyes dangerous and cold. "After all the times my mother forced me to save your worthless reptilian rear, after knowing how much I detest you…you now challenge me?" The teenage boy sucked in a lungful of air through his nose. "Have you lost your mind?"

The serpent attempted to swallow his fear. "Very well, but we should take him to see Veritas at the very least."

"So be it," He replied, voice monotone, before he turned back to an anxious Merlin and offered him his hand to shake. "Mars is the nickname given to me by the others in the void," Merlin shook his hand, his nerves relaxing when the boy offered him a surprisingly warm smile. "You can call me Michael, if you wish."

Merlin nodded along. "Thank you…for saving us I mean."

"It was my pleasure, though I'm sorry I had to hurt your friend," Mars replied, turning to glance at an unconscious Arthur. "I couldn't have him trying to kill us for trying to save you."

Now Merlin was not a cruel man, but after all the insults his king had thrown at him this morning, part of him wasn't too displeased to see him get his just rewards. "He was annoying me anyway," he joked, extraordinarily relieved when the boy smiled back.

"I see-" Mars head suddenly snapped back, his eyes springing wider and wider open. The movement was not only abrupt but concerning to say the least. "You need to see the Veritas immediately. Jorma, bring King Arthur," and with that, the mysterious Mars turned on his heel and began walking back into the dark forest from which he had come.

Merlin merely scowled at his retreating back, a little put off by the boy's actions. "I need to find my daughter before I go see anyone…" he trailed off. "And how'd you know Arthur was a King?"

A slight snort from the bearded Jorma grabbed his attention. "Don't exhaust yourself trying to figure out how that boy knows anything. He just always does, and I do mean _always_. It must have something to do with being so close to Veritas."

"Veritas?" Merlin asked, arching a brow. "You've mentioned that three times now. What is it?"

Jorma shook his head. "Not it, but she. She's been the law of the void for the past six years now. Rumour has it that she has the ability to see the truth in everything, and it doesn't hurt that her boy Mars over there is feared throughout this hell hole. "

Merlin took a deep breath, watching closely as the serpent picked up Arthur and threw him over his shoulder. "So this Veritas, will she be able to help me find who I'm looking for?"

"She is who you're looking for," Mar's voice suddenly called out. "We all have titles here. I'm Mars, Jorma here is the Midgard Serpent and Veritas's real name is Imogen Pendragon."

Merlin felt something flare up deep within him, something so powerful that just for a second he thought he was going to pass out. "Imi! Imi's alive!" He yelled out, running up to the boy and wrapping his arms round him. Needless to say he seemed a tad uncomfortable but allowed it nonetheless. Merlin guessed it was because true joy was such a rare treat around here that it seemed wrong to stop it, and so he continued to laugh like an insane elderly drunkard. He didn't care how odd it looked or how stupid it must have seemed. His daughter was alive! And by the sound of it, she was trying to bring order and justice to the eternal prison.

"Yes, Imi is alive," Mars added, carefully shoving the jubilant young warlock off of him. "Alive and well, now let me take you to her. Just…just don't hug me again."

Merlin gave him a dramatic thumbs up and a goofy smile. "Right now I'd eat the grass if you told me to."

"I'm touched," the boy added in a deadpan tone, the phrase laced with sarcasm. "We should get moving. As she always says, you don't keep a Pendragon waiting."

Merlin scoffed, shaking his head. It had been a long time since he had been this happy. An awful long time. "No you do not. Last time I kept her Uncle waiting, he threw a boot at my head and called me a different girls name every day for a month. Oh! Her Uncle's Arthur by the way, as in the King Arthur you knocked out."

"I know," Mars sighed, bored by the advisors euphoric rant.

"Right, you always know," Merlin apologised. "Is that how you know so much about Imi?"

Mars shrugged. "Partly," he sighed, turning to face the suddenly talkative warlock. "Or it could be because she's my mother."

Merlin's feet rooted to the ground beneath him, his jubilant smile falling like a boulder in the ocean. It felt like someone's hand had been forced down his throat and ripped out whatever organs it could grasp at a time. He was Imi's son? Which made him his grandson, James's son, and _so _much more. But it didn't make any sense. He was at least fifteen and Imi had only been gone for four years. However just as his doubts began rearing, a wild grin exploded onto the boys' face.

And he saw it.

It was like looking at a younger version of James. Identical in fact. The grin was wild and his eyes danced with a slightly unnerving glisten of insanity, but that wasn't the only thing. His jaw, his nose, the light tan of his face and the chiselled features was all James. So much so that he had to wonder how he had missed it. The only difference was that his hair and eyes were the same as Morgana's. Jet black and ice-blue. It was the colouring Imi had inherited too.

"Hello Grandpa Emrys," Mars grinned at him, seemingly enjoying himself at his Grandfather's expense. "You know, I heard some grandparents soil themselves."

* * *

Morgana crouched behind the frayed array of bushes, her eyes alive with scrutiny as she surveyed the scene before her. What looked like a large battalion of Saxons had gathered around an old, decayed seeming temple, roughly two dozen or so. A large sigh escaped her closed lips. Part of her had been hoping that Mordred had been lying, that Anna Regus really hadn't been taken against her will as bait for James. However it appeared it had been nothing but hope.

"Where's Morgause?" She asked the young druid on her left. "I thought you said she was trying to help Anna escape?"

Mordred nodded, not taking his eyes off of the Saxons. "She is. There is another entrance hidden round the back, that's where Morgause is."

"Then we sneak around and join her," Morgana whispered, not wishing to be overheard. "Gwaine, lead the way."

Gwaine couldn't help but scowl at her. "We could take them, no problem. Hell, you could almost do it by your lonesome."

The black haired beauty gave a slight shake of her head. "No, we're trying to avoid any bloodshed. Otherwise why not just get James to deal with it?"

"But-"

"Gwaine, it's what Merlin would do," She interrupted the knight before he could further voice his protest.

Gwaine's scowl faded at her words, whereas Mordred felt a smile tug at his lips. "You're just how I remember you, Morgana," he whispered, eyes displaying his fondness and earning her reluctant smile.

Her hand came up to briefly cup his cheek. "As are you," she mimicked his tone, before turning her gaze onto Gwaine. "Lead the way, and stay low."

The good sir knight grinned. "You know, if you wanted to stare at my posterior all you had to do was ask."

"Alright first of all, no one calls it a posterior, except maybe Gaius," She reprimanded. "And second, if you don't start moving I'm going to hurt you. A lot."

"I choose move."

She bounced her eyebrows. "Good choice."

The three rose as one, all bowing their heads in an effort to remain hidden in the limited shadows available. They skipped through the edge of the forest, expertly avoiding anything that would cause a noise, until they could safely escape round the corner of the decayed temple. As Mordred had claimed, Morgause stood hunched over an old pedestal with her eyes fixed on the surface, worry etched into every line on her features.

"Lady Morgause," Mordred alerted the blonde of their arrival, the sorceress snapping her gaze up to meet them.

"Sister," she breathed out, a smile grabbing at her lips at the sight of Morgana. "I wasn't expecting you yourself to come. Perhaps Emrys and King Arthur but-"

"My husband and brother are busy," Morgana interrupted with little to no emotion. "Mordred made it clear that this dungeon Anna has been trapped in was once controlled by the priestesses. I thought I might prove useful."

Morgause fervently nodded. "Indeed you will," she proclaimed, clearly excited at the sight of her sister. "It has been far too long. The last time we laid eyes on each other you had just been poisoned."

"That's in the past," Morgana was quick to respond. "Since then Merlin and I have had a child together. Her name is Isabella."

Morgause nodded. "I heard, and it's a beautiful name. Perhaps…one day…I might be allowed to meet the young girl?" The blonde tried to edge in, fearful in her approach to build a bridge with her sister.

Morgana stared down the other priestess, her gaze fierce. They always were when considering her baby Bella. "…We'll see," she finally answered. Before today she wouldn't have even considered it, but after Mordred's explanation of how her sister now followed James and not Borin Regus she was undecided.

"Have you made any progress?" Mordred cut into the uncomfortable atmosphere, reminding them all of why they were here.

Morgause released a sigh. "I'm afraid not. I understand what is needed but I don't have enough power to pull Anna from Turf, and every second I waste I know the girl is dealing with the dark magic embedded within," she explained, turning back to the stone pedestal. "Back in the times of old, multiple priestesses would be required to pull a person from it."

"How did this happen anyway?" Gwaine spoke up for the first time.

"We were given very specific instructions by James Regus," Morgause answered with a note of dejection. "We were to take her away from the Venemagus kingdom since our prince didn't want her around his father without him there, which meant we had to find other accommodation. We settled on the Isle of the blessed, thinking we could best protect her there…but we didn't anticipate the princess's stubborn attitude."

Gwaine raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, because usually those Regus's are so peaceful."

"We made a mistake," Morgause threw back at him. "She ran away from us in search of her brother. She had been desperate to find him for the past month, but we kept her away from the world because we knew this very thing would happen, that she would be used as bait."

"How old is she now?" Morgana realised she didn't actually know how old her little half-sister was. After all it had been four years.

"She's eleven," Morgause answered, a slight feel of sadness in her tone.

"Eleven?" Morgana shrilled. "She's all alone in there and she's only eleven?"

Morgause frowned at her sister. "You must have known how old she was?"

"It didn't occur to me," the black haired beauty answered, distracted by her concern. "For some reason I thought she'd be older. It's felt like an eternity rather than four years."

Mordred scowled at the choice of words. "Are you saying you've met her before?"

"Yes of course I've…" Morgana abruptly halted herself, trailing off when she remembered the consequences of using the platform of time. Only a select few remembered what had happened before they had jumped into it, and Mordred and Morgause were not one of them. Gwaine however was. She turned to look at him to see a disapproving look on his bearded face. "We met very briefly, outside the temple of vice four years ago. I doubt she'd remember me."

Morgause nodded, though her frown remained present. "Very well, then perhaps we should be trying to retrieve her rather than leaving her to the dangers within the dungeon."

"I agree," Morgana was quick to approve. "You said you understood what was required but didn't possess enough power to perform the right spell. Perhaps if we both attempt it then we can do it."

The blonde's frown only deepened. "Last time we met you possessed little to no magical power. Have you progressed?"

Gwaine scoffed. "Just a bit. Merlin has been teaching her himself."

"Taught by Emrys?" Morgause repeated, her eyebrows rising, impressed. "Many would lay down their lives to claim as such. Perhaps you can help."

Morgana couldn't stop the smirk that grew on her face. "Tell me what I need to do, sister."

* * *

Camelot was a battle ground.

Knights, guards and warriors fought with everything they had against creatures crashing through their gates. Men, women and children were scattered across the courtyard, all fleeing in search of safety. Sir Leon was guiding a family up the castle's stairwell, Sir Lancelot and Sir Elyan were fighting against three winged scorpians each and Sir Percival was battling with a man in a long black hooded robe.

Gwen, Uther, Gaius and little Bella watched from their position in the castle – gazing out the window at the horrors all around them. "This attack is unprovoked and unjustified. Our enemies will pay for such an assault," Uther stated in a low, deep voice.

Gwen turned from the battle to face him. "What enemies? We have no idea where these creatures came from or why they are here."

"I would have thought it was obvious," The former king condescended. "This is the work of sorcery."

Gwen rolled her eyes, whereas Gaius took the political approach. "Sire, these beasts are unlike anything I have ever seen. I doubt they have any reason to attack Camelot anyway other than opportunity."

"Don't speak such nonsense, Gaius," Uther arrogantly reprimanded. "Magic needs no reason to strike. It doesn't use logic like you or I, only a cold and jaded sense of justification."

"You're wrong, Grandpa Uther," Little Isabella remarked, staring up at her grandfather. "I told you before not to tell me how much you hate magic, I don't like it. My daddy is magic and he's a hero," she demanded, her tiny eyes suddenly wide and glistening.

And that's when something unthinkable happened.

"I'm sorry," Uther apologised to the little girl, earning the instant and spellbound attention from the other two adults. Had Uther just apologised for speaking his mind on magic? They hadn't thought it was possible until this very moment, but it seemed that the only thing capable of such a feat was a tiny creature with huge wet eyes, also known as Isabella.

"Perhaps she should not be here," Uther sounded concerned. "Bella is too young for such violence."

The little girl stamped her foot. "No! I wanna stay with Aunt Gwen!"

To Gaius and Gwen's amazement a small smile tugged at Uther's lips. "You are as stubborn as your mother. I'm glad to see it."

"Unbelievable," Gwen whispered to herself, before turning back to view the battle raging outside. "Gaius, you should be attending to the injured. They need you more than we do right now."

The elderly physician bowed his head. "Of course, my lady," he agreed and took his leave.

"These creatures are never-ending," Uther reminded, joining both girls at the window.

Gwen nodded in agreement. "Indeed. They're too varied to contain for much longer. They either fly, dig, run or disappear. There's no chance of coping with all of them."

"Then we need to begin thinking about evacuation," Uther reluctantly admitted to himself. "We may have no choice."

Gwen crossed her arms and released a heavy sigh. She didn't like that idea at all, but at the same time had to agree. At a certain point they had to start thinking about saving lives and mounting a counter-attack. The only problem was they would lose a lot of lives in the attempt, and they had little Bella to think of as well.

"We should begin now whilst we still have an army to save," Gwen grudgingly conceded. "Unless by some miracle-"

A sudden crash of thunder and lightning rocketing down from the heavens interrupted the Queen's plea, a blinding flash consuming everything in sight within a blue beam when the lightning hurtled violently into the earth. Gwen and Uther were forced to jar away from the window, the very castle itself shaking.

But it wasn't over.

Another bolt snapped down and thundered into the ground just outside, the once blue sky now swirling with jet black clouds. Another bolt quaked the earth, this time causing all the windows to shatter upon impact, a tremendous gale rushing through the window and knocking Isabella on her rear. Bella leapt up from the shuddering floor and wrapped her arms around her aunt's waist. The ceiling shook worse than the floor, tiny fragments raining down on them as they trembled loose.

"What's happening!?" Gwen screamed, having to squint as one bolt shot ruthlessly down after another, striking the terrain with bloodcurdling vigour.

"I don't know!" Uther called back, having to stabilise himself on a quaking wall.

Bella glared out at the mighty flashes with her young eyes, her curiosity tingling at her every nerve. "I wanna see!" She called out, abruptly releasing her aunts' waist and running toward the demolished window.

"Bella!" Gwen cried, attempting to give chase. However when yet another bolt thundered downwards she fell on her side, the intense light blinding her and the force of the blow throwing her off her feet. Little Bella had the same problem, but her determination refused to be sated. With a glare her mother would be proud of the little girl forced herself to her feet and carried on, eventually reaching the window.

"Grandpa Uther!" She yelled, turning around with an alarmingly wild smile on her innocent face. "Aunt Gwen! The monsters are almost-!" Three more flashes and crashes ruptured the ground outside, interrupting the little girl in a tidal wave of light and noise.

…And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the ferocious storm dissolved into the air. The storm clouds towering over the kingdom blew away like sand in the breeze, the wind fading as if someone had shut a door and the once chaotic scene stilled unnaturally. Bella looked up with extreme caution, her recently combed hair once again wild, and gazed out the window.

Thin clouds of smoke rose into the air, the ground had caved in wherever the lightning had crashed into it, and the monsters had somehow vanished. But that wasn't what interested the girl. No. What caused her little blue eyes to boggle was the cross-armed man somehow standing on top of the tower to her left. She gawked out over at him. He was frowning down at the courtyard, his vibrant emerald eyes surveying the scene as if he was checking there were no monsters left.

But it was when he suddenly snapped his gaze over at her that the child found it hard not to recoil in fear, the strange man clearly looking right at her. He was handsome, very handsome, but there was something she could see in his eyes even from her position. It frightened her. There was a danger in them that made her want to both run away and keep looking at the same time. Except that was when he grinned at her and offered her a wink.

A great big smile exploded onto her face at it. It must have been him who had gotten rid of all the monsters and saved them, it must have been him who had made the storm. And just like that the strange man bent his knees and shot across the sky, her ice-blue eyes remaining fixed on him until he disappeared completely from view.

A chuckle escaped her, her small eyes glistening in wonderment. "Wow!" She cried, before laughing as if she would never stop.

Seconds later her aunt and grandfather arrived next to her, both looking down and surveying the miracle before them. "I don't understand," Uther began with gentle caution. "What just happened here? Where did all the creatures go?"

Gwen shook her head, until finally noticing the giggling child next to her. "Bella? What's so funny?"

"He saved us, Aunt Gwen," she gleefully answered, grinning up at her Aunt. "He made the storm and then _flew_ away! "

Both adults shared a look, Gwen's one of shock whereas Uther's was one of fear. "He flew away?" Gwen finally asked, earning the excited nod from her niece. "Bella…who was it?"

Bella's already huge grin somehow stretched out even wider, the girl turning to look out the shattered window once more. "The magic man."

* * *

Arthur's eyes reluctantly fluttered open, his brain pounding in his skull. A small groan escaped him as the pain decided to triple when his eyes opened fully, unable to stop the reflex of his hand coming up to rest on his throbbing head. Merlin was pacing up and down directly in front of him. They seemed to be in some form of cave, the only light being that which streamed in from gaps in the roof and torches on the walls.

"Merlin?" He croaked out, earning the young warlocks' attention. "Merlin, what happened? Where are we?"

Merlin squatted down to be eye level with his king. "You were knocked out in another dimension by my grandson so you wouldn't hurt his partner who can change into thirty foot snake monster."

Arthur sucked in his cheeks, blinking profusely at his former manservant. "Merlin…have you ever wondered why people think you're strange?"

Merlin frowned, before tilting his head to the side. "I always thought everybody else was strange."

"Well, that's what happens when you're crazy."

"I am not crazy, Arthur," Merlin rushed to explain. "Do you remember what Imi said right before she jumped into the platform?"

Arthur's teasing, if drowsy smile slowly fell from his face. "She said she was pregnant with James's child-"

"Exactly," Merlin said with a firm nod. "And do you remember what James said about how time would be distorted in the void? That five years to us could be five seconds or a thousand years here."

The fair haired king developed a certain gleam in his eye as he did indeed recall. _"Imi, I don't think you understand what the void will be like. Everything will be trying to kill you in a world where time means nothing. Five years to us could be five seconds or a thousand years to you – there is literally no way to predict it."_

_Morgana lowered her tense brow. "Wait…a thousand years? But by then Imi would have been dead and we'll never get her back."_

_"No we will, because things don't age in the void – at least not physically – unless they're born there," James explained._

Arthur closed his eyes, coming to the realisation that despite all insane outward appearances Merlin was once again correct. "Why can't you ever be joking?"

Merlin shrugged. "I'm not that funny."

"This is true," Arthur had to concede. "So, that boy who threw me away as you would a soggy boot is your grandson?"

"Yes."

"And James's son?"

"Yes."

"I see," Arthur nodded. "So when I first met you, you threatened to beat me up. When I met Imi for the first time she claimed she was your daughter and the world was going to end. James threw me up against a tree and now your grandson has knocked me unconscious," he thought out loud, causing the young warlock to scrunch up his face in recognition.

"I think I see where you're going with this…" Merlin trailed off, feeling a tad sheepish.

Arthur pursed his lips. "Did I ever tell you Morgana bit me when she first came to Camelot?"

"Can we get back to the problem at hand, Arthur?" Merlin asked, becoming frustrated with his King's selfish concerns. "I've just discovered I not only have a grandson but that he's…different."

Arthur scoffed. "Well of course he's different. He has a viscous family history on his side – what did you think was going to happen?"

"I'm serious," Merlin whispered with some urgency. "Kilgharrah told me before we came here that the son of Imi and James would be special, even by our standards. He said that he would be a child saviour who would bring peace to our world, and from what I've seen so far, I think that's possible."

The king shook his head, feeling almost nauseous as he began to absorb his words. "That teenage boy is going to save the world?" He uttered under his breath, finally it would seem understanding the situation he was in.

"Sounds like some bad information," Sounded a deep, commanding voice from behind them. They whipped around, startled by the intrusion, to see Jorma striding in whilst clutching a lifeless mammal by the neck. Needless to say both men attempted to swallow their abrupt fear at the sight.

Merlin rose to his feet, helping Arthur to his. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that boy is too fragile to be anyone's saviour," The serpent growled out, coldly discarding of the animal corpse and moving to light the fire in the center of the cave.

Arthur shared a brief glance with his advisor before speaking. "He seemed to get past me easily enough."

"Oh he's powerful enough for sure," Jorma was quick to add. "In that respect he isn't even human. Everyone in this prison fears him. You know I once saw him take down half the creatures in here in a single outing, and I mean that literally. That powerful and only fifteen, it's frightening."

Merlin thought over his words, deciding to think on them at a later date. "So then what's the problem?"

"The problem comes when you separate him from his mother," Jorma answered, bouncing his eyebrows as he did. "Take her away and he goes to pieces. He may seem indestructible on the outside, always blunt and yet hardly ever talking, but on the inside he's as soft as they come," he laughed at his observation. "Never trust a Regus. They're all liars."

At this both Arthur and Merlin snapped around to look at him. "You know the Regus's?"

"Do I know them?" He chuckled. "Our families go back generation after generation, to when the old God Regus first stole my ancestors' beloved in order to create the Venemagus kingdom. The loathing is very real between us, only growing over the centuries of war and bloodshed."

"All because of something that happened thousands of years ago?" Arthur had to ask, levelling this midgard serpent with a stare of disbelief. "Forgive me, but that strikes me as pointless."

Jorma grew a tired smile. "I only told you that so you'd know how it started," He explained, picking up a knife to begin skinning his dinner. "Since then it has grown, every child taking it further and further, until it came to myself and Borin Regus," he spat the name, Merlin and Arthur both tasting the venom in his tone.

"What happened?" Merlin asked, his reluctance obvious. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Jorma's brow twitched. "In my youth I was my family's greatest warrior, often if not always the one leading the charge on the Venemagus kingdom, but I had one failing. My compassion. My elders instructed me to kill the new born prince, James Regus, because the priestesses of the old religion predicted he would become too powerful for us to contain. So I snuck undetected into their kingdom and stood above the child's crib, my dagger in my hand…but I couldn't do it. I was there and I simply couldn't do it. To hurt something so innocent repulsed me."

Merlin, as strange as it sounded, appreciated his position. After all he had experienced something similar with Mordred. "So then what happened?"

"I abandoned my mission and went home to my wife, Eve, and my two daughters," he answered, eyes smiling. "I realised whilst I held them that children should never be killed, that their innocence was something to be treasured not exploited," his smiling eyes began to die after his statement, before he turned them back down to his kill. "It was the next morning that Borin and his armies attacked, having discovered my mission. In his fury he wiped us all out. All of us. Our elders, our places of worship, our women and children until only me and my family were left standing. He brought us before his army and proclaimed us examples of what would happen should anyone attack his heir…and then he slaughtered them before my eyes."

Merlin recoiled in his disgust, whereas Arthur could only close his eyes. "Sweet lord…" The fair haired king wheezed out.

"One by one he executed them," Jorma spoke in a barely audible voice, eyes still downcast. "First my wife, then my eldest before finally my two-year-old girl. They were both so afraid, so scared. They begged me to save them, but Borin had placed an enchantment on me to stop me from morphing into the serpent and limited my powers. So I could do nothing but watch, trying my best to soothe my girls with empty words before their throats were cut. But it still wasn't enough. The sorcerer king banished me to spend an eternity in the void, knowing that I would have to bear my pain for an eternity and unable to exact the revenge I was owed," He sniffed in an attempt to conceal his heartbreak. "That is how I ended up in this hell, all those years ago. But I swore to him, to the mighty Borin over the corpses of my children, that I would one day return to exact my vengeance. That my face would be the last thing he would ever see," his knife abruptly cut through a bone as he skinned his meal.

Merlin and Arthur allowed the silence to hang in the air, feeling sick to their stomachs. They knew what Borin was capable of from personal experience, but it didn't stop them from being sickened every time they heard of it. Merlin released a heavy sigh, moving to stand closer to the man he had perhaps judged too quickly. "I'm sorry," the warlock breathed, the words seemingly insignificant when the situation was examined. "That connection between father and daughter…I'm so sorry."

"As am I," Jorma growled. "When your daughter arrived she helped me overcome my blind fury. She made me remember that there are truly good people in the world. It's why I continue to help her in spite of her son's father, despite the hatred that boils in my blood every time I look at him, regardless of every instinct and lesson I have learnt since birth to crush every Regus I lay my eyes on," He seethed. "It's your daughter that has been the only light in my life since that day, and I thank you for that."

Merlin nodded, a tragic smile fighting its way onto his face. "She's my light too," he agreed gently, feeling his eyes swell with moisture. "And for what it's worth now, you made the right choice when you decided not to kill James. He helped us save the world, and even Imi's life a few times too."

"I'm glad to hear it," The serpent smiled back. "Maybe something good came from my pain, but as I said before the hatred is in both of our blood. Our instincts would recognise the other instantly. If we ever get a chance to meet then those instincts would flare up and we would be trying to rip out each other's throats within seconds. In fact the only reason I can control those instincts around Mars is because I was there when he was born, but even that takes up all my strength, and he has made no secret that his own Regus blood rages whenever I am near. He just doesn't know why…I think."

"That's a shame," Arthur intervened. "I think you're the only one who hates Borin as much as James does. Where is this boy anyway? I'd like to meet him."

Jorma sighed and straightened his shoulders. "Gone to retrieve his mother. They should be here shortly."

"I'm always faster than you think I am, Serpent," Mars stated, parting the two pieces of fabric covering the entrance of the cave and stepping in. Merlin instantly straightened, eyes boggling as hope seared in his very blood. Imi must be just behind him. This was it at last. "I'm sorry but my mother was deep in enemy territory, it would have been foolish to go and get her."

Merlin felt his heart plummet down to his toes, his once swelling hope puncturing in his chest. He honestly thought this would be the moment that he would be reunited with his girl. That all that pain waiting had caused would float away the moment he held her in his arms again…but apparently fate had other plans.

Usually when people thought that, it wasn't meant to be taken so literally.

"Oh," The young warlock muttered with a bow of his head, trying to hide the bitter disappointment engulfing him.

Arthur's heavy hand came up to rest on his shoulder. "We'll find her soon," he comforted, a small side smile stretching onto his face.

"Hold on," Mars interrupted the moment, drawing all attention back to him. "I said it was foolish, I didn't say I didn't do it," he said with a very Regus grin, before grabbing a piece of fabric and holding it up…and then it happened.

Imi bowed her head as she stepped into the cave, before fervently whipping it back up and causing her long black hair to fly in every direction. Her ice-blue eyes looked like they were being stretched from every which way, the very core of them dousing as tears gathered at the base, fixed firmly on the two new arrivals with resolute determination. Merlin mirrored her look, his lips parted as he regarded her. His whole body had tensed to the point of aching. After all this time, after every second of every day of every year, he was now only a few feet from the very thing he had dreamt of. He now had the chance to say everything he had wanted to, everything he had dreamt of over the past four years.

And yet he remained silent.

They both did.

Years of waiting, craving this very opportunity, and suddenly he had no idea what to say to her. He had broken fates rules just to see her, to save her from Morgana's prophecy, but he _still _remained rooted to the ground beneath his feet. His mouth refused to move. His brain had frozen along with the rest of him. The only thing that had changed since she had entered was his expression and breathing rate, which had sped up to levels bordering on hyperventilating.

She took an abrupt step forward before seizing up once again, his heart thundering as she did. Her parted lips began to quiver, but she closed them again and swallowed. "…D…Daddy?" She finally breathed out, her voice weak and wheezing.

For as long as he would think over this moment in the years to come, he would never what he did next. He cried. Silent tears tore down his cheek, one after the other, as his face scrunched up in an effort to conceal any noise. The moment she had called him by his title it had been impossible to stop. She had broken him with one word when even some of things he had witnessed in his time hadn't phased him at all. In fact all he could do was nod in order to answer her, his shuddering lips attempting to stretch out into a thin smile.

A single tear streaked down her own cheek, accept she didn't even attempt to smile. "Is it time?" She croaked out, eyes still wide with disbelief. "Can we come home?"

Without warning his goofy grin exploded onto his face, a heavy breath escaping him as his lips finally parted. "It's time," he panted, unable to wipe the grin from his face. She looked exactly the same. He had almost expected her to be scarred and covered in filth, but she wasn't. Aside from the slightly dishevelled hair she was exactly as he remembered. Her dress was pure white and flowed gracefully down to her toes, but underneath tight black trousers adorned her legs and were met by thick black boots that stretched up half her shin. A practicality it would seem.

Her watery gaze reluctantly travelled over to Arthur, who had on his best astonished smile. The one were his teeth were visible but one corner was pulled up a little higher than the other. Needless to say she was unable to stop the watery chuckle that escaped upon seeing it. "Uncle Arthur," she greeted, her voice sounding as if she had run several miles and lost all her breath.

The fair haired kings' crooked smile grew into a proper one at his own title. "Imi," he nodded back at her, before turning his head to the side and trying to subtly wipe at his eyes. "It's…uh, it's good to see you."

"And you," she replied with equal affection, a small laugh escaping her again. "It's very very good to see you," she added, beginning to tear up yet again.

She still hadn't moved. No one had. Jorma and Michael watched on from the side, studying the scene with thin smiles on their faces. After all Imi had told them they could appreciate this reunion for what it was. Long overdue.

Merlin fidgeted, adrenaline rushed around his blood, until he could take it no longer. She sprung forth from his rooted position and enveloped his girl the fiercest embrace of his life. With identical need Imi returned the cuddle and seized his brown jacket in her hands, burying her now sodden face in the crook of her fathers' neck and finally allowing the sobs to break free. She shook in his arms. Every cry, every tear that fell wracking her whole body like a convulsion.

"I've missed you," she wept, making sure to clasp onto him with even greater strength.

Merlin laughed, wrapping his left arm around the back of her neck and using his right forearm to nestle the back of her head, his right hand gently filtering through her hair. He didn't feel the need to tell her how much he had missed her too. She already knew. He just wanted this joy to last forever, to never let her go again despite knowing he eventually would.

And of course he did. She finally pulled back, shooting her father and Uncle a wet grin, before stealing a deadly grasp of Michael's sleeve and yanking him forward. "Dad, Uncle Arthur, this is my son, Michael."

She shoved him forwards, clearly not caring that her boy wasn't ready for the push, only grinning in her joy. Merlin smiled. "We've already met," he laughed out…but stopped as Imi's gigantic grin fell from her face with lightning speed.

"You what?" She snapped, before charging forward and levelling her son with a fearsome stare. "What did you do?" She demanded, having to look up slightly but still managing to make him fidget.

"I saved them," he murmured sheepishly back. Merlin and Arthur studied the exchange with looks of bewilderment. After seeing and hearing what the boy could do, it was beyond odd to see him shrivel in fear with one look from his mother.

Imi's eyes narrowed dangerously at him, only furthering the boy's nervous body language. "Oh I'm sure you did," she whispered with vehemence in her tone. "And then decided to suddenly spring on them that you were my son, no doubt knowing they were unprepared for it."

He shook his head. "I didn't know!"

"You _always _know," she seethed, before shaking her head at him in disappointment. "With that brilliant brain of yours you would have worked it out immediately, and if you couldn't then no doubt you would have read their minds when you shook their hands – just like you always do."

Merlin allowed his eyebrows to knit together at her words, and recalled the moment when the boy had shaken his hand earlier.

"_Mars is the nickname given to me by the others in the void," Merlin shook his hand, his nerves relaxing when the boy offered him a surprisingly warm smile. "You can call me Michael, if you wish."_

_Merlin nodded along. "Thank you…for saving us I mean."_

"_I see-" Mars head suddenly snapped back, his eyes springing wider and wider open. The movement was not only abrupt but concerning to say the least. "You need to see the Veritas immediately. Jorma, bring King Arthur," and with that, the mysterious Mars turned on his heel and began walking back into the dark forest from which he had come. _

So that's why he had acted so strangely after shaking his hand. He had read his mind, no doubt seeing that he was his grandfather and reacting as anyone would.

"I'm sorry," Imi's voice brought him back to the real world and away from his thoughts. "He likes to surprise people. I think he enjoys it in some sick way," she explained, throwing a scathing glare at her boy over her shoulder. "So much like his father."

"She always says that whenever I've done something wrong," Michael added. "But if it was time to free the woman I loved and my son then I would at least show up to get them myself," he bit out, looking directly at Merlin as he did. "So where is he?" He asked, trying to smile when all it did was reveal how hurt he truly was by the notable absence.

Imi's reprimanding glare immediately softened at the rare hurt in her boys' eyes, laying a gentle hand on his forearm. "Honey, I told you he didn't know I was pregnant when we came here. I was worried he never would have let it happen if he did-"

"Great, so he just left you here instead," he interrupted. "You said he was brilliant and amazing and beyond belief, yet whenever I do something wrong I'm like him. And now he's not here to save us," Michael shook his head, shocking Merlin when his chin protruded just like Morgana's did when she was really upset. "I thought you said he was a hero?" He asked in small voice, ice-blue eyes shining with badly hidden tears.

"He's a Regus, Mars," Jorma finally chipped in, now sitting down behind them. "He's no hero."

Imi pointed a stern finger in the serpents' direction. "My son is a Regus, and he's a hero."

"So why isn't he here?" Michael breathed.

Imi sighed, allowing her eyes to close and briefly cupped his cheek. "I'm sure he has a good reason," she tried, but felt an unending rage explode when she saw how wounded her boy still was. In a fury she rounded on her father. "Where is he?" She demanded, eyes suddenly rapturous.

Merlin turned to look at Arthur over his shoulder, who gave him a pointed look. He swallowed and turned back to view an Imogen radiating hate. "Actually…he does have a kind of good reason, or two."

"Well they better be brilliant," she seethed, before pointing over her shoulder at Michael. "You see that? He's seen some horrible things in this void and yet I've never seen him this hurt before. All his life he's wanted to meet his father. I used to tell him stories before he went to sleep so he could learn all about him, and every night I did he went to sleep with a smile on his face in spite of all the evil just waiting to kill him outside. So they better be unavoidable for his sake, or I'll _skin _him alive."

Merlin was a little surprised to say the least. He hadn't seen her this angry before, and felt a wash of guilt flood through him. "They are, because it's my fault."

"What?" She snapped.

He took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself. "Imi, your mother had a dream. A prophetic dream. She saw you running for your life from a group of invisible wild dogs-"

"Hell hounds?" Jorma interrupted, standing to his feet and joining with Mars and Imi in looking terrified. "No one ever escapes them, ever," he explained when Arthur sent him a questioning look.

"He's right, they don't," Imi agreed, seemingly a little spooked. "Not ever."

A spark of hope ignited from somewhere within him that he had made the right choice. "Well that's what Morgana saw, and that lead us to realise something," he added. "We started to wonder if the fates wanted you to die here in the void, since they made no secret of their disdain for your choice to come back in time to save us, and since we have Bella now then in their minds she could have taken your place in the grand scheme of things."

"Wait," Imi shook her head. "Who's Bella?"

Merlin smiled at this in spite of the topic at hand. "She's our other daughter, the one your mother was pregnant with before we jumped into the platform. She's your exact twin, Imi. It's incredible."

"So," Imi began. "Mum didn't lose the baby?" She asked with a smile, rewarded by a nod from her father. "Thank God, but what does this have to do with James not being here?"

Merlin hung his head slightly at this. It was time for the confession. "Well, after we talked about this we decided not to let it happen…and so we're a little earlier than planned."

Imi narrowed her eyes, turning her head to the side. "Are you saying it hasn't been five years for you?"

"It's been four," Arthur answered for him, causing the look of horror to cross Imi's features.

"Four!?" She screeched. "Have you lost your mind!? What if you're wrong!? What if Mum's dream was just a dream!? What if you have put the whole world at risk because you were too scared by a dream!?"

Merlin shook his head. "I don't think so," he responded quickly. "Not even Kilgharrah thought so. Your mother wasn't wrong about the three moons. She wasn't wrong about these hell hounds despite never hearing about them before, explain that."

"So…so what is your theory exactly?" Imi demanded. "That the fates didn't need me anymore because they had Bella? That she would fulfil any destiny I had instead of me? That they lied about God himself telling us we had to wait five years, because they knew that's how long it would take me to die here?" She ranted. "If that was the case then why didn't they just kill me? It's not like they couldn't if they wanted too."

Arthur, who had so far been silently agreeing with Imi this whole time, suddenly frowned as a thought occurred to him. "…Because they needed you to jump into the platform of time."

Imi looked over at her Uncle, her own scowl deepening. "Care to explain?"

"Think about it," He prodded, stepping up next to Merlin. "When we jumped into the platform, we were all sent back to before you had arrived, to before we had started diverging from the fates plans. But in order to do that we needed you, the platform needed you in particular, so it could figure out when we should be sent back to-"

"So they couldn't have killed me themselves," She finished for him. "They still needed me for one more thing first, and maybe they can't reach into the void, only see it. That's why they told you to wait five years in your time, because they foresaw that's how long it would take me to be killed by something else."

"Exactly," Merlin prodded, turning all eyes onto him.

Michael stepped forward. "But why isn't my father here?" He reminded them of how this explanation had begun.

"Because we're early, he didn't know we were coming," Merlin hurriedly explained.

"So why didn't you tell him?" Imi asked, shooting them a suspicious glare.

"Well, that's the thing," Merlin responded, sending Arthur an awkward glance. "More happened after you were sent to the void, and we need to talk about James's memories…"

* * *

Morgana glared at the rustic temple in front of her, the one she knew contained both Anna Regus and the world's most torturous dungeon. She would get her out no matter what. After all, she was family, and she wouldn't leave her to rot in such a horrid place any longer. Gaius' explanation of turf was hardly leaving her any time soon either. The very fact that little Anna was in there at all, where dark magic physically manipulated and twisted you, shook her more than she had admitted. Morgause stood next to her, reminding her that Anna was not her only sister present, leaving Gwaine and Mordred to watch on from behind.

"You think they can do it?" Gwaine asked the dark haired druid, eyes fixed on the two sisters in front.

Mordred shrugged. "They better. If not, then when James gets here there's going to be a blood bath."

Gwaine nodded, raising his eyebrows as he began picturing the fire and the rage unleashed on an unsuspecting army. "Earlier, when there was that weird thunder, why'd you call him Thor?" He asked. "Because that wouldn't be the first time I've heard him called that, but I don't understand it."

"It's what the Saxons called him a few years ago," he answered, also not looking at the other man. "They were under the command of King Borin and were charged with the mission of wiping out all his other children, who used to be called the masters. Long story short James stopped them by himself, the whole army. He used lightning to destroy them, so they called him Thor which means the thunderer," Mordred let a small scoff escape him. "They actually think he's a God."

Gwaine smirked. "You don't say?"

"That I do," He joked. "Thor, God of thunder. He's even got his own followers called the Vikings," he laughed, Gwaine soon joining him. "Like that will last."

A few steps beyond them Morgause offered her hand to the waiting Morgana, giving her sister a stern look. "Are you ready, sister?"

The black haired beauty let her eyes travel down to the blonde's hand, her gaze displaying her reluctance to trust her. However, after much debating in her head, realised she had little choice and firmly grasped the other woman's hand. "I am."

"Good," Morgause said with a nod, the smallest of smiles twitching on her lips. "Then we do it as practiced."

"Agreed," Morgana approved, before turning around to once again view the dungeon.

The sisters took a deep, steadying breath to calm themselves. "Arise mid min miclan mihte þín módrian to helpe. Hider eft funde on þisse ne middangeard þín módrian weus," they chanted as one, before snapping their eyes wide open to reveal their burning gold iris's.

A burst of fire abruptly flared into life at their feat, before it rushed up to the temple. It hissed and spat as it left a trail of searing flames in its path, until finally it reached the old stone of the dungeon. Morgana, Morgause, Mordred and Gwaine could only watch as the blazes roared into the air, the flames forming a sphere on the wall, but it was what was within the circle that interested them the most. All around the fire's edges stood the stone wall, but inside it shone a glowing blue light that forced the group of four to narrow their eyes in order to see.

"Now what?" Morgana queried, captivated by the glow, before finally turning to her sister.

"Now we pull her out using a hair taken from James Regus," Morgause replied, pulling out a slither of hair from within her folds. "The only way to release someone from any magical prison is to use something that either belonged to their biology or a member of their close family. I found this hair on a scarf Anna took before we fled the Venemagus kingdom. It belonged to our prince, and since we just commanded the portal hoping to pull out the sibling of whoevers hair we use we must use her only sibling."

Morgana's scowl deepened at this. "Wait, so, because we commanded the door to open to release the sister of who's hair we use, we have to use James's hair because he's Anna's only sibling?" She made sure she had it right before she started to panic, feeling her heart sink when Morgause nodded. "So what would happen if you used the hair of her father instead of her brother?"

"Then Anna would be trapped in the dungeons forever," Morgause answered, distracted by the hair in her hand and completely missing the colour drain from Morgana's features. "We opened the portal by promising we had the hair of her sibling, not her father. It wouldn't recognise her and close immediately. You only get one chance to release someone from turf."

Morgana tried to contain her panic as it shot round her whole body. Morgause didn't know. She didn't know that James and Anna weren't really brother and sister, they were father and daughter. Using that hair would forever confine the girl to a fate worse than death. The magic would force her to stay alive for an eternity, forever tricking and torturing her. Morgana thinned her lips. No. She wouldn't let that happen, but she couldn't reveal the secret either…so what was she going to do?

"Are you ready, sister?" Morgause queried, at last turning to look at her.

"Most definitely," Morgana was quick to respond, putting on her best mask of determination. "But before we do perhaps we should have Gwaine and Mordred make sure no Saxons stumble upon us."

The blonde smiled at her sister, a little proud of her for recognising a problem in their plan. "Very good, I didn't even think of that."

"It just seemed obvious with the light from the portal," Morgana shrugged. "You've been here longer so you instruct them, I'll hold the hair."

Morgause nodded. "Very well," she agreed, handing the hair to her and walking over to Gwaine and Mordred.

Morgana knew she had to be quick. With rapid speed she discarded of James's hair and pulled one of her own shorter ones out, only just finishing in time for Morgause's return. "Here," she chirped in her attempt to cover her gasp the sharp pain plucking had caused, handing her strand to the blonde.

Morgause sent her an estranged glance but took it nonetheless. "Then let's begin," the sorceress began, walking right up to the open sphere with her sister adjacent, before holding Morgana's slither of hair up. "We, the last priestesses of the old religion, hereby lay claim to Anna Regus and demand her immediate release!" She proclaimed, casting the strand into the blue glow.

Immediately the glow seemed to recognise the new addition and pulsed, the light almost blinding them. Morgana held her breath. It seemed now she was going to find out if she and Anna were truly sisters. She had accepted James at his word, but in reality she had no real proof that she and Anna were related at all. There was no reason he would lie, at least not that she could think of, but if he had lied then they were about to lose Anna forever. It would be a cruel punishment for the sorcerer prince to say the least.

Of course that was when Anna's top half of her body came screaming out from the sphere.

Morgana leapt back with a shrill. She hadn't been quite prepared for such a violent and sudden reunion. The girl's emerald eyes locked onto hers. They were swimming with fright, alarmed and traumatized. Her mouth moved but no noise escaped her young lips. The sight broke Morgana's heart. Whatever had happened to her in there it had stolen her voice, something the black haired beauty thought of as part of her identity. Without her voice she was nothing. The tool she had used to defy Uther and his hatred, the part of her used to tell Merlin she loved him and tell Bella bedtime stories. She couldn't imagine not having it with her, and yet as she looked at Anna Regus fighting to scream and failing, it broke her heart on the spot. But it was when the girl remained stuck in her position that her empathy became suspicion.

"Something's wrong," Morgause's statement only turned that suspicion into fear.

"What?" Morgana demanded, snapping her gaze back and forth between her two sisters. "What is it? What's wrong? Why can't she talk?"

"Because she's too scared to," The blonde quipped, scowling at the scene before her and ignoring the horror that swept across Morgana's features. "I don't understand. We opened the gate promising a sibling bond. James is her brother, but the summons is working as if they were only half-siblings."

It was before Morgana could explain what she had done that the sphere pulsed once more, radiating light onto the three sisters, and began violently sucking Anna back in. Morgana's eyes snapped open. "No!" She screamed, impulsively lunging forwards and grabbing Anna's hand.

The young princess once more locked eyes with the black haired beauty, clearly stunned at the act of bravery, and Morgana could understand why. Unlike her Anna didn't remember anything from before they had jumped into the platform. She didn't even have a chance to remember as no version of her, adult or child, had entered it. Malum had killed the child version and the adult future one had been possessed by the same monster. So to her, a stranger had just risked her life, her sanity and soul for her.

Once again, she could see why she was surprised.

But to Morgana she was family, and if she let her be absorbed back into the dungeons of turf then she would be gone forever. As Morgause had explained, you only ever got one chance to retrieve someone from turf, and this was it. She would not let her go.

"Morgana!" Morgause cried, surprising her with the amount of concern in her tone. "Morgana, you have to let go!"

The lady of Camelot grit her teeth, shaking her head fervently. "If I let her go then she's gone forever!

"If you don't then you'll be taken into turf!" The blonde retorted. "And you have no full-blooded sibling! There will be no way to save you!"

"Or her if I let her go!" Morgana fought back, beginning to lose her grip on the young princess. Anna's eyes shot even wider open. Just because she couldn't speak didn't mean her terror was any less obvious, but that was when Morgana shook her head and clenched her jaw. "Don't worry, I won't let go," she stated. "I won't lose you again, I swear."

Morgause looked wildly around, as if looking for answers. "Morgana! Someone HAS to go into the dungeon! The summons hasn't worked and the gate requires a body! If you don't let her go then you'll both be taken!" The blonde desperately tried to explain. "What about Bella!? If you go then you will never see her again!"

At this Morgana felt hesitation stab at her heart. She would never see Bella again? That thought chilled her more than she liked, a lot more. If she could never see Bella then she wouldn't see Imi either, or Merlin, or Arthur and Gwen and James. She wouldn't be there when Merlin brought Imi back. She wouldn't know how her girls' pregnancy went, be there for her or hold either Imi or Bella ever again. Her girls, gone forever.

"Let me go," Anna's croaky voice shocked her so much she almost let her slip from her grasp, the sisters' eyes locking again.

Morgana blinked. "What?" she breathed out.

"James…he told me you have children," Anna continued to wheeze out. "And family is all I've ever loved. Don't give them up for me. Please."

Morgana released a heavy breath, her eyes filling with tears. She couldn't even fathom how scared the girl must be, having already sampled the horrors of turf and knowing she was facing an eternity of it, and yet here she was. An eleven-year-old girl sacrificing herself so she could go home and hug her girls. Before she had loved her, but at that moment she fell in love with her.

She offered her a warm, watery smile. "You're right, family everything."

Anna gave a trembling nod. "Thank you," she thanked, only making a tear fall from Morgana's eyes. She was thanking her now? "For trying I mean. Not many people have tried to help me before, in fact only one has ever tried."

Morgana's bottom lip shuddered at this. "James?" She whimpered, receiving a sad nod from the girl. "I thought so, and I won't be the reason he loses his little girl," she stated…and suddenly yanked the girl free whilst throwing herself into the dungeon.

"No!" Morgause screamed, darting past a stunned Anna and diving for her sister…but it was too late. The sphere closed, trapping Morgana behind a solid wall and leaving her to the horrors of turf for an eternity.

Morgause went skidding across the floor before snapping her disturbed gaze up, looking in vain for the open sphere gate that had disappeared. "No…" She breathed, knowing there was now nothing she could do.

Gwaine and Mordred came running up and surveyed the scene, noticing both Anna and Morgause on the floor and gazing at a solid wall in astonishment. "What happened?" Gwaine asked, looking around for a certain black haired beauty. "Where's Morgana?"

Morgause lightly shook her head, clearly still dazed. "She's in the dungeon," she whispered out.

"What?" Gwaine seethed, before charging forwards, seizing Morgause and shoving her up against the stone wall of the dungeon. "What did you do!?" He demanded. "Bring her back! Now!"

For the first time Morgause brought her gaze up to meet his. "I can't. She's gone."

* * *

So what did you think? As always I love hearing from you. In the next chapter: Merlin, Arthur, Imi, Michael and Jorma try to escape from the void; Morgana finds a friend in the dungeons; and the consequences begin.

Booya.

Yes I said booya.


	3. Escaping the Dark

Hello thar! Sweet nipples this one did take me a while to write. It's over 22,000 words long and if I'm honest not my best work by far, so please be gentle. Ok, I can't think of anything clever or funny or interesting to write here so let's move on to your amazing reviews.

**Angharad-Emrys-Potter-W7****: **Hello thar. Lol sorry to bring you so close to the abyss, but I hope this makes up for it. Picture puppy dogs and rainbows in the future, that always makes me laugh :P Anyways thanks so much for taking the time to review. I hope I don't let you down with this chapter.

**Dawn Ruthless: **Hey! I'll tell you what, I don't know how I got so lucky to have so many loyal, funny and downright pleasant reviewers such as yourself. I honestly think I've got the best reviewers on the whole of fanfiction. But yeah sorry, onto your review. Yep, booya, they found Imi. Glad you like Michael already, because for those who don't I have quite a lot in store for him to convince people. Lol sorry I almost made you cry :P although kinda pleased too… yeah Morgana is obviously an important character and one that links so many in my story…so wouldn't she be good to sacrifice? :D nah come on, I'm joking. Or am I? No I am, but am I? I'll stop that now. Bring Morgana back? Alright I'll see what I can do, but no promises! After all, one of my main problems with RfT was not keeping people dead, but we'll see. Ah I'm a cruel man. Anyways thank you so much for your review and I sincerely hope you like this chapter too. Thanks again.

**Paladinobr: **Hi! Good to hear from you again. Glad you liked the last chapter, but sorry you still don't like Morgana :P Yeah she's a touch impetuous, but that's her character, and I can't change that. Oh there will be some seriously bad consequences, and as I've told other people you'll think I'm taking it easy on her but I'm not. You'll just have to trust me. Well this chapter is all about escaping, so we'll see how it goes on the Merlin/void front. Thanks again for yet another review. I'm very lucky to have loyal readers like you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

**RoSiE: **Hello there, and great name. In fact quite possibly the best ever. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, and know that I'm not crept out in the slightest by your choice in name…or how you've done the whole Capital Letter – small letter – Capital letter like I did for CoLdBlAdE – only using my daughters' name. :P Thank you.

**AwedbyAwesomeness: **Haha! Hello thar! Throwing in a sweet vegetables huh? Good job, good job. Lol worried it was going to be all angsty? Come on, as if I would do that you. You're human. No I've got some majorly weird and fun stuff coming up, starting with chapter 5 which will pretty much be entirely comedy. Wow, brilliant, written in capitals… why doesn't thank you seem like enough? You want to know if Mordred is still going to kill Arthur? I'm not going to tell you it's just one of those things that's going to be hanging in the air and we'll see. Ah the Arthur rant, I enjoyed that. He'd just put up with too much from Merlin at last and since he couldn't kill him, he ranted. You liked the reunion? I'm very glad because I found that really hard to write. I had to imagine how I would feel if I'd lost my sister or my little Rosie for four years, then translate that into Merlin and Imi's character – I must have gone back and forth for three days because I didn't want to end it too soon, so I would leave it and come back to it to add more lol ah the difficulties. And I still have Morgana and Imi to come yet, James and Imi, James and Michael – Jesus it's going to be tough. Glad you think Imi is a good mother because I wasn't sure what kind she should be, but then I thought with a son who could set the whole world on fire and with monsters surrounding you at every turn there was only one outcome in the end. You want to see James and Morgana meet Michael, well they will :P But who knows when! I do, I know when. It's a small but mighty power trip. Lol the family tree is a bit close isn't it. I swear I was just trying to create a family vibe, and that all these apparent strangers who found each other weren't really strangers at all and it just went a little weird I guess, but I will make the best of it God damn it! Thanks or what you said about liking my sense of humour (I don't want to repeat those sort of things, but because it takes me so long to update I have to remind people what they said :P) Ok then there we are. Thanks so so much for yet another review. I swear I have the best reviewers on this entire site. You're all so funny and nice, it's like looking into a mirror :D Yeah, maybe James's arrogance wasn't _completely _made up. Thanks so much again.

**Whitepurity: **Hello again! Lol yeah I know it's one messed up family, but no inbreeding which is important, just a bunch of people who go back generations. Wow thank you, not sure if I've blown it out of the water on this one, but we'll see. Just trust me :P it may look like I'm taking it easy on people, but I'm not let me tell you. In fact I expect some very angry reviews after the next chapter :P Anyways thanks for another brilliant review. It means a lot when you continue to do it after all this time.

**renessaincbooklover108****: **Hello! Yeah I know what you mean with reviewing a finished story, it feels weird, but thank you for your taking the time to review this one. It means a lot, as do your very kind words. You don't need to tell me it's epic? Oh, but it never gets old :P I'm glad it made you laugh but sorry it made you look like a freak at the gym and in front of your friends. You're not my first victim and for that I do apologise. Lol also glad you liked the Doctor Who references. I'm not sure how they got there but it just sort of happened and…yeah there we are. James is a blend of the tenth Doctor and Gwaine? :P Interesting. Never thought of that but yeah I guess so. Yeah onto the chapter. Am I trying to rip your heart out? How did you know? Did someone talk!? Nah I'm not, well…not physically. Will someone rescue Morgana? Well you'll have to wait and see won't you :P Anyways thank you so much for leaving a review and I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter as well, even though I'm not that confident about it. Cheers again.

**MaryandMerlin: **And hello to you too! It was one in the morning when you were gonna review this? Strange, it's one in the morning as I'm writing this. Spoooooky :P You still think I'm trying to throw you off ay? It's probably a good idea, but who knows . Yeah they are stupid parents, but who knows, maybe there's a twist coming. So…you're not obsessing over James huh? After just threatening to scratch Imi's eyes out? No sure, I believe you. You think Bella's cute? Yeah I was surprised at how easy it was to fit her into the story, in fact I haven't really had to try, she's just been fun to write. And yeah I'm glad you caught that Bella actually knows more than the others on an instinctual level when it comes to James, because as Kilgharrah said there will always be a connection between them because of fate. Also liked how said that she can hear him in the thunder because that's exactly what I was thinking as I wrote it, like dead on. You liked the back and forth between Arthur and Merlin? Good, because I love writing it. Yes the Dragonlord entrance by Mars. I know that normally the parent (in this case Imi) would have to be dead, but I really want to get across just how different Mars is, and I address that in this chapter quite a fair bit. Lol you think Michael is too normal a name? Well I agree, but it's for a reason which I can't really reveal yet. Glad you like the nicknames though, because there is also a reason for that. In fact I'm not sure if I've written anything so far that isn't for a reason, it's exhausting trying to do that AND the emotional crap lol A man turned into a giant snake on a show called W.I.T.C.H? I feel so cheated… I'm not sure if I should tell you where I got it from because it may kinda ruin a bunch of stuff I have lined up, but it wasn't that. Yeah Merlin should have seen the resemblance, but as any psychologist worth his salt can tell you, we see what we're looking for rather than what's right in front of us – and he wasn't looking for that. I love adding a bit of psychology to these stories, and Michael kinda does it in this chapter as well even though he's supposed to be mega smart. Uther apologising seems to be what most people are talking about in their reviews :P they seem to like how Bella can manipulate him like her mother without even trying. Are you a James fan girl? Because to be honest that's just awesome :P like really awesome. Yep thunder and lightning means he's close by, and again I wanted to emphasise the connection between Bella and James, because it also means the same for Imi and James when people read it, only more magical if you like because it's through the eyes of a child. Yeah Jorma's story of what happened to his children is also another big point in the reviews . Seems I tugged on a few heart strings there which is good, because I want sympathy for him. Yes Borin is still alive. I should have made that clearer actually but I kind of forgot :P I will do, I will do. As for Jorma getting his revenge on him you'll have to wait and see since I have a lot of plans for that character, and him and James won't get on at all, so we'll see. You liked the reunion? I'm very glad because I found that really hard to write. I had to imagine how I would feel if I'd lost my sister or my little Rosie for four years, then translate that into Merlin and Imi's character – I must have gone back and forth for three days because I didn't want to end it too soon, so I would leave it and come back to it to add more lol ah the difficulties. And I still have Morgana and Imi to come yet, James and Imi, James and Michael – Jesus it's going to be tough. Glad you think Imi is a good mother because I wasn't sure what kind she should be, but then I thought with a son who could set the whole world on fire and with monsters surrounding you at every turn there was only one outcome in the end. Does James know he has a son? You'll find out again :P sorry but I don't want to ruin anything. Yeah Morgana doing the old switcheroo with the hairs thing, and I'm really trying to boost Morgana and Anna's relationship, because with the best will in the world Anna needs more than just James looking out for her. The guy can't be everywhere. What's gonna happen to Morgana? Well I didn't want to do just another Maze of Avalon chapter so I've tried to make it different, and I have done that I am sure. You'll probably think I'm going easy on her :D but it's going to be so much worse believe me. Lol! Have I considered my family tree? Yes I have, and believe it or not it was on purpose. I wanted to create a whole family feel between all of the characters to make them, basically, all one big family. I too have a colour coded family tree :P People weren't really meant to look into it all that much and just sense the family feel, but yeah that didn't work. We'll call that one a fail, but I'll make the best of it don't worry. Anyways, as always, thank you so so much. It wouldn't be the same if I didn't see your name amongst the reviewers so thank you, and I hope I don't let you down with this one as it was really difficult for me for some reason.

**The-supernatural-way: **Yeah Morgana :P Ah, what else can you say. Aha! Supernatural is my favourite show as well, especially since Merlin finished anyway. Gotta love Dean. I've been toying with the idea of writing a supernatural story actually, but I just don't have the time at the mo. The trickster ones were always my favourite as well, and it will be chapter 5 that brings in my version. Anyways thank you for such a nicely worded review :P It did make me smile so thank you.

**MotherEarth02: **Hello! :P Thought I'd put this chapter up sooner and therefore do this sooner but here we are. So, happy birthday :P Your friend told me it was your birthday coming up so my genuine best wishes, and also as a present is there anything you want to know or for me to write in an upcoming chapter? Even a message or a conversation with a character – literally anything. If so then let me know and it will be done. Anyway onto your review. Really glad you liked the void as I kinda just let my imagination go with it on that one, and also loving the awesomesauce for your description of Mars :P Loved that, and there will be more on him in this chapter. When will he get to meet James? You'll find out sooner or later ;) But I can promise you it will be interesting. Lol yeah, no matter what Merlin and Arthur always find time to bicker. When Gwen was kidnapped, as the Dragon attacked Camelot, on Arthurs' death bed… they always find time. Anyways thanks as always for yet another brilliant review, and don't forget to let me know what you want as a birthday present. Literally anything.

**Narutoske: **Hello again! Always good to see your name. Glad you liked Morgana and Morgause working together again because I wanted that too, now she serves James instead of Borin or herself especially. I love writing the Arthur and Merlin banter sessions, it's the easiest part of it to me, because it's just so natural and it's how really good male friends talk. Yeah Merlin's a grandfather now :P messed up right? But I figured people wouldn't see it coming despite Michael's colouring. Now all I have to do is make the readers love him and form a bond with almost every other character like I did with Imi and James in the last story. Difficult? God yes , but worth it in the end. There are going to be so many consequences that I had to write them down lol I'm not kidding. I have literally written them down so I don't forget, and they begin at the end of this chapter. As for James maybe having a thing for Morgana…well…it's open to interpretation, but see what you think after this chapter because I like leaving it up to the person reading it. Yeah it does kind of sound a bit like Lancelot and Guinevere I guess, and yeah I've purposely included a lot of characters so I can leave myself a lot of options, and I do have a plan for almost all of them…no in fact all of them. Thanks for the compliment about not having black and white characters as I work quite hard on that, like for example Uther yes. Anyways thank you so much for another review, really thank you, and I hope I don't let you down with this chapter as I'm very weary of it.

**Simranbegum12345: **Wow, thank you :P Not sure how to reply. Can I say I'm glad it made you cry? Or is that cruel? Either way I'm glad it made you laugh as well. It was what I was going for. Yeah I could only see Imi as a fierce mother considering how powerful Michael is and given their surroundings in the void. I know Morgana sacrificing herself was predictable to most, so I tried to make it touching instead and a character flaw for her, and believe me her consequences will be extremely severe…just not the way you might think, and not in this chapter as such. You will eventually see what I mean I promise :P Anyways thanks for a frankly amazing review. It was really nice to read.

**MerganaLover:** Ok the first words I'm reading are I hate you…which is rarely followed by something good. Ah, I see. The cliff hangers. Yeah, that's my bad, sorry. They just come so easily I can't really help it, and besides the fact that when all my favourite shows on TV ended with a cliffhanger I kinda lost the will to live I'm very sorry, and again in advance :P Yeah the reunions were hard to write and their not even done yet! But I'm glad you liked them and thank you. What have I done to Morgana? Well I noticed that in the earlier seasons Morgana kinda acted rather, how do you say, stupidly :P and would do whatever she thought was right in the moment without thinking too far ahead (Mordred, Alvarr) the woman has issues. So it seemed like something she would do. Yeah the last chapter was just an introduction for Michael and Jorma, and we find out more about Michael in this chapter. In fact it's kinda his chapter really. You liked the Uther/Bella interaction? Good stuff. I thought if anyone could get Uther to become their puppet it would be Bella, and people tend to forget Uther has a soft side buried in their somewhere. Anyways thanks for yet another brilliant review and I hope this chapter doesn't let you down.

**Chase:** Thanks :P And you don't have to thank me for replying to reviews. It's the only way I can think to thank people for taking the time to review in the first place, so it's my pleasure. Glad you seemed to like Imi and her son, and there will be a lot more on him since I've had him in mind for a long time. Also glad you liked Jorma. He was brought into it for a very good reason, and I changed his name from the mythology to make it easier. Oh and Gwaine is always humorous :P Gotta love Gwaine.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of its characters; they say that Gandalf is Merlin's retarded gay niece…from Holland; And I once pooped on a birds' head just to see if it really does send you into another dimension. **

* * *

Chapter 3 – Escaping the Dark

The first thing that Morgana could register was the dull throbbing in her head. Pulsing and jabbing at every possible angle from within. Her delicate eyebrows knit together as she brought her hand up to rest on her aching skull, reluctantly allowing her eyes to flutter open. She winced when her gaze was met by the intrusion of light caused by a flame lit torch on the wall.

That was when her brief, blissful, ignorance ended and all the memories of how she came to be here came flooding back. This time her eyes snapped open. The Dungeon. Her and Gwaine with Mordred and Morgause. Rescuing Anna. As quick as her burning limbs would allow she shot upright into a sitting position and took in her surroundings. Mud covered walls, dusty floors, ancient rusted bars. It was every bit the depressing vault she had heard stories of.

Her eyes shone with desperation as she continued to look around. How was she ever going to get out of this one? She was completely on her own, no one could help her, and no one had ever been able to find their way out of these dungeons without that help. Her conscience bit at her from deep within her gut. She should have just waited like Arthur had said, she should have listened to the voice of reason rather than allowing her emotions to seize control. But she hadn't. She never did. It was her own personal plague that she had never been able to change. And now finally, she was going to pay the price for that.

As was her family.

"There's always a way out, Morgana," The black haired beauty screeched at the voice, bolting to her feet and fixing her terrified gaze on the source. That was when her heart thundered in her chest. Her mouth went dry, her lips parting as she stared at the always striking face of James Regus – a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Sometimes you just have to look harder to find it."

Morgana found that her voice had left her. What was he _doing_ here? Mordred had said he had been missing for over six months, and yet she had found him by accident down in this dungeon? Four years of no contact and suddenly here he was?

Her eyes narrowed at the man. No. Something was wrong here. His hair was shorter than it was the last time she had seen him, the way she'd always thought he should have it. Short on the sides and back and combed into a side parting on top. He was wearing Arthur's brown coat, a dark blue shirt, black trousers and informal grey boots. Quite frankly, he looked amazing, and it was this fact that made her realise what was happening.

"You're not real," she breathed out, taking a few steps away from him. "I've…I've heard stories of this place…of the magic it conceals. You're just a figment of my imagination. A form of torture."

James just continued to look at her, the auburn glow of the torches on the wall unable to hide the emerald sparkle of his eyes. "Yes and no," he finally answered, earning him her suspicious glare. "I mean yes I am only here because you're imagining me here, but I'm here to help. Without realising it you're accessing the magic within these dungeons since you are a priestess and apparently, according to your imagination, I'm the one most likely to be able to save you."

Morgana finally stopped backing off, catching on at last. "So, using the magic in the dungeon I'm imagining you're here because I think you can help me?" She asked, waiting for his nod before continuing. "That's stupid."

He rolled his eyes. "No, what's stupid is that clump of mud on your head. You look ridiculous."

Her lips lightly parted at the slur, before she furiously brushed it off. "You can't be polite even when I imagine you?" She glared at him, until her eyes slowly turned suspicious. "Wait, how would you know something I don't? I mean if I'm imagining you, then you would only know what I know."

"Wrong," he grinned at her. "Because I know everything."

She recoiled somewhat, a patronising smirk growing. "No you don't."

"According to you I do," he smirked right back. "As well as funny and astoundingly good looking, you might wanna look into that."

She firmly closed her eyes and let loose an almighty sigh. "I've only been with you for a moment and already I want to kill you."

"I know," he chuckled. "I'm amazing, and I can list as to why if you like? Number one, the cheekbones. Number two, I'm the belching champion in over three kingdoms – possibly four, but, well, Mercia is a stupid place. Number three-"

She held her hand up to halt him before she attacked her own imagination. "Alright, fine. If you're really just a figment of my imagination then what's my daughters' name?"

"Which one?" He arched an eyebrow. "The tiny loud one or the grown-up louder one?"

She grit her teeth. "…My baby girl," she seethed.

"Gonna need more than that too," James said with a bounce of his eyebrows. "I think you called Imi your baby girl as well so-"

"The little one!" She finally yelled, already losing her patience.

"Bella, or Isabella," James answered. "Incidentally, good choice with the whole name thing. They shouldn't both be called Imogen."

In spite of herself a small smile tugged at her lips. "Thank you."

He nodded. "You're welcome. However Bella makes her sound like a turnip breeder."

"Alright!" She stopped him yet again. "Talk about my baby girl like that, either of them, again and I'll end you. I don't care who you are, imagined or otherwise."

He nodded. "Understood."

"So, where did Merlin go today?" She continued questioning.

"To the void to save Imi," He responded quickly, his smile suddenly gone. "Something you should have come to me for before you went charging off like some scared, impatient morons. You may have broken the world by the way, congratulations. Let's see Imi thank you for that when she gets back."

She glared death at him. "We had good reason-"

"Are you sure you want to lie to the God of thunder, Morgana?" He took his turn to interrupt her. "Most people would think twice before doing so."

"Fine," she quipped, despite not agreeing with him. "Then if you're really in my head, who did the sister of fate tell me I should have banished my love for?"

At this a thin but sad smile stretched onto his face. "The one and only Thor, or as some call me, Derek the cheese-maker."

"Indeed," she said, unable to stop the small scoff that escaped her.

"You know it's nonsense right?" He asked when she began mulling the notion over, just as she had for four years. "I love you, Morgana. Really I do, but God help me the very idea creeps me out."

Her grin was involuntary, and despite her current situation a small laugh burst out. "I think I know what you mean."

"I mean I slept with your mother, I'm in love with your daughter, I'm your brothers' cousin and I fathered your sister," he listed off. "It's pretty gross, much like Arthur's chicken dish."

She full out giggled this time, for some reason put at ease despite knowing he was just in her imagination. "Granted," she admitted. "So you really are here to help me?"

"We're family, Morgana," He breathed out. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She smiled sadly at him, wishing with her all her might that he was real. "Alright, so what should I do first…pretend James?"

"You look for the stuff that isn't immediately obvious," He answered quickly, before charging past her and squatting down by one of the corner walls. She watched him go with a dubious stare, until eventually deciding she could trust him and squatting down at his side. "You see this sand? It's firmer than the rest, and this corner has eroded slightly faster than the others," he began, turning to look at her to see she was staring right at him – her eyes gleaming with nostalgia.

"I missed you, so much," she said with a gentle, albeit wet smile.

He rolled his eyes, releasing a heavy sigh into the world. "I thought we were done with the sappy crap? Now you need to concentrate. Man up!"

"But I'm a woman," She arched an eyebrow.

"Debatable."

"Excuse me?"

"Look do you want to get out of here or not? I don't have all day," he urged, lowering his gaze to demonstrate how serious he was.

She scrunched up her pretty face. "What do you mean you don't have all day? You're imaginary."

"Then imagine me a schedule," he flicked her nose. "Must I do everything?"

She shook her head with a good natured smile. "Fine, so what does the hard sand and eroded wall mean?"

"It means, lady chuckles, that almost everyone who has been here has come this way," he explained, grinding the sand through his fingers and letting it fall. "And as we know no one has ever escaped from Turf, so this is probably the wrong way to go – PLUS whatever is down here is going to try to kill you. So maybe we avoid busy areas, what do you say?"

"I say why did you just call me lady chuckles?" She quizzed, only half joking. "What have I ever done to you?"

He pursed his lips. "You used to hit me a lot. Wasn't a fan of that."

"You slept with my mother."

"And then there was that," He added quickly, before throwing her a grin. "I notice how no one ever cries over my stolen virtue."

She scrunched up her face. "Seriously?"

"Oh you'd be surprised. I was a gentle soul once, up until I was ten years of age anyway. From then on out I deserved everything I got," He added, distracted as he surveyed the area and therefore missed Morgana's confused glare. "Now what about these shapes on the wall?"

She frowned when he rose to his feet and jogged over to one of the many drawings, soon following after him. "What about them? I assumed they were just drawings?"

"Never assume, Blue. Question everything. They're ancient languages used by one of the first civilisations of man," he stated, eyes running over the strange shapes with scrutiny.

"Well I can't read it," she sighed, allowing the hope that had been building to wither a little. "And if I can't read it then-"

"We, the primal order of his grace, claim dominion over your soul for all eternity," James read off, much to the astonishment of the black haired beauty. "Well, not exactly the warmest welcome I've ever received. Sadly not the worst either…"

She merely continued to gape at him. "How did you do that?" She demanded, earning his attention. "How can you read that if I can't? Your just a part of my brain, how can you know something it doesn't?"

"I've explained this already, come on," he pulled at her sleeve, reminding her that he could physically touch solid objects, and led her off down a corridor. "In your mind James Regus knows everything, so I do too, understand?" She opened her mouth to voice her protests when he continued. "And I can touch you and other things because I am a creation of the magic within these dungeons. As a priestess you are granted a protector, and fortunately for you, I'm yours."

Her eyes narrowed as she followed him down the badly lit hall, before finally relinquishing. "Fine, so where are we going?"

"Really?" He whirled on her, suddenly angry. "One flimsy explanation and you believe me? What if I was an enemy? What if I was just the face of something trying to kill you?"

She pursed her lips, for some reason amused by his anger. Why was he treating her like Anna? "I am a grown woman, and you shouldn't talk to me like-"

"I will talk to you however I please," He cut in, suddenly in her personal space and glaring at her. "Especially when you're acting like an idiot. Wake up, Blue. You're in hell's dungeon."

To say she was offended was an understatement. Even in her imagination, James Regus knew how to annoy her. "If you are my protector then you will obey me, not the other way round. What gives you the right to speak to me as if I were your daughter?"

"Because I don't think you appreciate how much danger you're in right now," He fired back. "We are being watched, assessed and plotted against right this very moment by things you can't even see – and you believe any excuse I give you?"

"Then what's going to kill me? You?" She asked, unable to stop the smile of disbelief that crossed her face.

"How would you know?" He fought back. "This is Turf, not a flowery meadow. You have people that depend on you, that love you, and they need you to survive this. Yet here you are casually strolling around."

She crossed her arms and scoffed. "Oh come on. It's not like you're going to let anything happen."

At this his hard gaze turned absolutely rigid, her words clearly striking a cord in him. He deflated somewhat and backed off a bit, staring at her with clear guilt flooding his eyes. "How long have you had so much blind faith in me, Morgana?" He breathed out, a sparkle of doubt dancing across his emerald eyes. Her crooked smile slowly fell from her face, she barely daring to blink as she locked gazes with him. "I thought only Imi suffered from that. How long have you been doing it too?"

"I don't have _blind _faith in anyone," she answered, feeling immensely uncomfortable. "I just think you can be useful. You're someone I…we can always depend on-"

"Hero's let you down," he tried to explain. "I've had this before, not just with you or Imi, and it never ends well. One day I won't be able to help you and that will probably be the day you most need me. It never ends well. Not ever," he sighed in the face of her confusion. "Look, just-"

He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her. Her eyes snapped open, shocked by the abrupt and personal movement, unprepared for him to then swing her around…to come face to face with Imogen. Her breath left her. Her eyes stretched out to frantic levels of amazement, and when she saw James stretch his hand out ready to blast her away, she did what any mother would do.

She elbowed him in the ribs and swept out his feet from underneath him.

He went crashing to the ground amidst a whirl of confusion, leaving Morgana to stand alone with a smiling Imi. "Imi?" She gasped, breathing heavier than she should have done after such a little excursion. Her eyes flooded with tears, a shaky smile growing on her face. "He did it. Merlin found you."

"For God sake, Blue!" James angry voice called from behind her. "That's not Imi! It's a trick! I would think it was obvious!"

She whirled around to face him, eyes alive with panic. "What?" She wheezed.

"Don't listen to him, Mum," Imi spoke gently, earning her mothers' immediate attention. "Daddy rescued me with Uncle Arthur and Gaius told us where you went. You need to come with me, you can't trust him. He's not real. Dad found a way to get you out but you have to come with me now."

She shook her head, overwhelmed with how events had suddenly played out. "But…but he's trying to keep me safe."

"No he isn't," Imi begged, pleading with her eyes. "He's been gaining your trust so he can lead you further into the dungeon, where the magic is at its most powerful. How else could he read the language on the walls?" She released a frustrated breath when all Morgana did was stand still, offering her mother her hand. "Mum please! I can't stay here for much longer – you have to take my hand!" She tried again, still outstretching the appendage. "Who do you trust more? Me or James?"

Morgana kept shaking her head. A huge part of her was screaming that this was just a trap, that the dungeon knew she would want nothing more than for Imi to be real. In fact in this whole world she didn't want anything more. "I can't…Imi, I'm sorry. You being here doesn't make sense-"

"And him being here does?" Imi cut in, desperate to convince her.

"Yes it does," Morgana answered quickly. "It makes perfect sense. Who else would I imagine would come and save me? And I could see it in his eyes. He wouldn't hurt me."

"So it is true," Imi suddenly snarled at her, forcing Morgana to recoil. "You do love him, don't you?"

The priestess felt nausea flood through her, and immediately took a few steps towards her girl. "No! No sweetheart, I would never ever-!"

"Did you like it when he grabbed you?" Imi cut in with a vicious, venomous tongue. "How could you do this to me? To Dad? Why did you have to drive a knife into my back when you could have had anyone else!? And it's sick Mum! It's just sick and you know it! Tell me how-!"

A blast suddenly fired into her head, the small energy beam shooting right between her eyes. Morgana shrilled, the foul screech turning her throat raw and painful. It was a scream she never thought she would hear, never mind emit herself. It was enflamed and consumed by grief, everything that was now pulling apart her insides. Her hand came up to smother her repeated cries, having only just become aware that she was still screeching with horrific repetition, and felt her knees buckle underneath her.

She should have expected James to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Morgana!" He called, desperately trying to get through to the screeching mother. "Morgana! Hey! She wasn't real! She was a hallucination! Turf is trying to stall so it can come up with something better – we have to move now!"

She abruptly snapped herself away from his grasp, seized him ruthlessly by the throat and crushed him against the wall. He stared at her in astonishment. Her face moved in slow motion towards his, her eyes scathing with raw blind wrath, the ice-blue burning right through him and into his soul. "You…killed…my girl," she hissed, now a mere hairs width away from his face.

"No I didn't," he tried to calmly assure her. "It wasn't her. Morgana, it wasn't her."

"She was my baby…and you took her from me," she condemned.

He growled, suddenly grabbing her arm and throwing her back a few steps. "She wasn't real! Use your head! I love Imi – why would I ever kill her? Look, there isn't even a body. She wasn't flesh and blood-" He tried again.

"Neither are you!" She screeched at him, lost to her numbing fury and heart break. "You're just some imaginary memory!"

"No I'm not!" He blurted out, before his expression morphed into surprise at himself.

She turned her head to the side, her gaze both crazed and suspicious. "What do you mean you're not?" She breathed out, trying to calm the pounding fire burning in her blood, demanding vengeance. She couldn't even feel most of her limbs. He had to be right, logically she knew that. There was no body and Imi would never say such horrible things to her. She had to calm down, but it was easier said than done.

James opened and closed his lips numerous times, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "I mean…I mean I'm…not exactly part of your imagination after all. I'm sort of…real," he admitted, a shaky concerned smile growing on his face at her somehow even more furious look. "Ta da!"

* * *

The void was now beginning to remind them of a desert. Arthur and Jorma lead the way, both trudging through the unfounded heat that seemed to be forming from nowhere. The sky remained heavily clouded, just masking the scorched red heavens hiding right behind them, and allowing little illumination for their trek through the dark forest. Merlin picked off one of the countless black leaves as he fought to keep a firm pace. The humidity was truly astounding. Sweat poured down his forehead similar to if a bucket had been emptied over his head, his limbs screaming, begging him to stop. He might have even listened to them had he not been so concerned that he would never get up again.

But the worst part, the truly sickening slice of this journey, was that Imi and Michael next to him appeared to be unfazed.

He would occasionally throw them a dirty look, silently cursing their obvious talent for aclimitizing so quickly. "How are you a Dragonlord anyway?" The young warlock suddenly fired at his grandson, earning him two pairs of ice-blue eyes. "Wouldn't Imi have to be dead or something?"

"Gee, thanks Dad," Imi had to speak up with a roll of her eyes, whereas Michael simply turned his attention elsewhere. At her fathers' mildly insulted look, Imi felt the need to explain. "Oh don't take it personally, he just doesn't talk much. In fact today has been the most I've heard him speak in fifteen years."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "The son of James Regus doesn't talk?"

"That's exactly what I said," Imi agreed, before allowing her face to melt into one of sad remembrance. "No one understood what I meant."

"So…how can he be a Dragonlord?" He asked again, although this time directed it to her.

"I have absolutely no idea," she had to admit, throwing her boy a sly glance. "He's just special. I mean I know all mothers think their child is special but he just is. Rules don't really apply to him in the same way that they do with us, as if he had been engineered by fate or something."

Merlin had to recoil at this. That simple little statement was just a little too close to home for his liking, and forced him to remember what Kilgharrah had said before he had come here. _"__Imogen Pendragon has a destiny of her own. To give birth to a child saviour with James Regus that will bring peace to this world, and to give her life protecting him. Her story will be the platform on which all mothers will know and follow, she cannot meet her end before she has a chance to fulfil that destiny."_

A child saviour that will bring peace to the whole world, that's who his grandson was. It was mind blowing. To think that this young man, no older than fifteen, should have such inrivaled purpose and heavenly powers was beyond him. No wonder he didn't like to talk. What would you say to people who have nothing in common with you? "What do you mean engineered?" Merlin abruptly realised her choice of words.

"Well…" she sighed, clearly thinking it over in her head first. "It is as it sounds. He seems to have all of our abilities and hardly any of our flaws – except his fathers'" She remembered, leaping up slightly and slapping the boy across the back of the head.

He sent her a scathing glare. "Ouch!" He cried.

"Yes, ouch," she agreed, a pointed look on her face. "Remember that the next time you decide to have a little fun at somebody else's expense." Mars shook his head. "And don't you shake your head at me. You nod and apologise."

Michael closed his eyes, releasing a heavy sigh into the world. "I'm sorry, Mum."

"Thank you," she praised, before turning smiling eyes onto her father. "I used to love it when he was little and called me Mummy. Mick, call me Mummy like you used to." Mars merely sent her a stern look and turned away from her again, returning to his ever cherished silence. Imi slumped her shoulders, defeated. "I hate boys," she muttered.

Merlin watched the interaction with a small smile on his face. His daughter was a fierce mother, but a good one too. Maybe it was what the boy needed. After all, he couldn't imagine any son of James Regus to not have a rebellious streak, and he was sure Imogen had recognised that there were a lot of similarities between father and son. He felt a spark of pride ignite from somewhere in his chest at the idea without knowing fully why. Just the chance that Imi and her child were alive was enough to get him to sleep over the last four years, but to see them interact now was like the cherry on top.

"So what do you mean he has all of our abilities?" He continued as if the exchange had never happened.

Imi nodded, remembering. "Again, it is as it sounds. He's the most loyal individual you will ever meet, he can wield a sword as well as Uncle Arthur – and some of the strategies he's come up with during battles have saved countless lives. He can dream the future like Mum, but control it as well. He has your knack of finding solutions and limitless potential, not to mention the way he can control the dragons. But then we move on to all the traits he got from his father. He can read minds, fly, has his fathers' wild streak buried underneath all that silence but by far the most impressive part is his brain. My boy is an absolute genius, so much so that I can't even explain it to you. Mikey, show him."

Michael glanced over at Merlin, his eyes rapidly moving up and down, and once again turned away. "You didn't have breakfast this morning," he stated, as if telling someone what the weather was like. Merlin's eyebrows hit his hairline, his ocean blue gaze bouncing between mother and son.

"How'd you know that?" He had to ask.

Mars shrugged. "You're scarf is messy despite being tied tight signifying that it didn't get messed up during the battles today – besides you're a powerful sorcerer so it isn't likely anything got anywhere near you anyway – which only leaves that you left quickly this morning without even considering it. You're sweating profusely meaning your body requires sustenance, sustenance it must have been deprived of over 16 hours ago, although you still had time to engage in physical relations if your blush is anything to go by…" Mars examined the expression on his grandfathers' face, somehow missing the embarrassed one of his mother, before continuing. "…relations which for some reason were interrupted, probably by someone you couldn't feel you could say no to – like family. A brother perhaps? There's annoyance but a clear bond in your eyes as you recall it now – Arthur, it was Arthur. Makes sense, Mum would have told me if you had a blood related brother. But you don't like me mentioning the bond, probably because it makes you uncomfortable – I bet you hate the word friend-"

"Alright!" Merlin's hand shot up to halt him, having heard enough now. Mars simply shrugged and went back to being silent.

"Scary isn't it?" Imi asked, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Makes you wonder how much James noticed but never said out loud, and speaking of James, what makes you think he was lying about not being able to remember us?" She had asked that question over twenty times now, if Merlin was still able to count correctly in this heat. Clearly the very idea of him not knowing who she was again, since she had already experienced it before, was frightening her more than she was revealing.

Merlin shrugged. "Your mother swears he didn't lie, but there are just too many signs that he was lying. Besides, he kind of does it a lot."

At these words Mars looked over at him, clearly thinking over his grandfathers' statement. Imi could read him like a book. "He does it when he feels he has too, not for fun," she soothed the boy. "And to his credit he's usually right."

"Hmm," Michael hummed in acknowledgement, turning his attention back to their surroundings.

"What about you?" Merlin asked, looking at Imi. "What's all this Veritas stuff?"

Imi raised her eyebrows, throwing a fleeting glance at Mars' back before answering. "About six years ago when he was nine or ten years old, he had still to utter a single word. Not once in all those years had he ever said hello or goodbye, asked for help or even cuddle, and I was afraid that it was because of all the stuff he had seen. Things no child should ever have to witness, not ever. He was just so…good, you know? So perfect, and I didn't want him to have to change to fit into this world just to survive. So the only other alternative was to change the world around him instead, and so I did," she whispered, smiling warmly at her boys' back as she did.

"That doesn't sound like a small feat," Merlin added.

"Then you'd guess correct," She answered with a small scoff. "No one would listen to me. Why would they? To them I was just some loud mouth who would be a better dinner than a dinner guest. They would sometimes capture me, torture me for weeks and then throw me to their friends if I was lucky. If not then they would try to devour me straight away, but I always made it home eventually, and when I did he would run up and wrap his tiny arms around me. His smile was always too big for his face, but no matter what I had been through that smile just made me feel even stronger than before I had started. He was worth every scrape, every bite. Every foul hand that ever came near me would never be enough to stop me, not when it was for him," she stated with fierce eyes, her gaze sparkling in her raw determination, and a gentle hand subconsciously lifted to stroke Mars' back. "Always for him, my baby boy."

Merlin's brow knit together as he recalled Morgana's explanation of her prophetic dream. She had said that Imi had been thinking of them as she ran away from these hounds of hell, but that she had also thought of this mysterious _him_. Initially he had thought it was James, but now he knew she was actually thinking about Mars as she ran for her life. That would explain the determination Morgana spoke of.

"Then one day I was captured and didn't return for 3 months," Imi continued, having to give her head a shake as she remembered the event. "It was the longest I had ever been away from him before. Thankfully Jorma was there to watch over him or I don't know what I would have done. When I returned he ran up and embraced me as usual, but when he looked up to smile he spoke his first words…I love you, Mummy," She recalled, her smile turning shaky and her hand coming up to wipe away her tears. "It was the single greatest moment of my entire life by far. I just hugged him and wasn't sure if I would ever let him go. But when I did he told me that it would be easier if I had more than just my magic to help protect me, and he placed his little hand on my forehead."

Merlin was entranced. "What happened?"

"It was like…" she attempted but had to cut herself off, releasing a sigh of frustration when she struggled to find the right words. "It was like my whole body just filled with pure, white energy. Raging, unlimited, terrifying energy, and when he pulled away I was left with some of it. A few days passed and I noticed I could tell when people were lying, like this twinge in my gut, and before long I realised I could not only tell when people were lying but stop them as well with a simple touched of my hand. You'd be surprised what you can do when no one can hide anything from you," she answered with a small laugh. "It was then that people began calling me the Veritas, the virtue of truth-"

"Truth?" Merlin interrupted, sending her a concerned look. "Veritas means truth?"

She shook her head. "No, it means the daughter of truth."

_The sister of fate in the middle spoke weakly. "The Son of Thunder and the Daughter of Truth, mesh together for the bloom of youth."_

_James turned back to them at this. "What? Seriously what?"_

_"His plan so long - his plan so great, showing his proof to the sisters of fate," The Sister to the left hissed. "He will come for he shall splendour, becoming his majesty's mighty born saviour."_

_"And all shall see, all shall wonder…" The luminous sister in the middle continued, a surprisingly bony and long finger extending in the two's direction. A gradual yet menacing smirk split onto the Goddesses face. "How they ever could have missed it, his own mother and father."_

Imi sighed as she remembered the words spoken by the three sisters of fate, accept now she knew what they meant. The son of thunder (James) and the daughter of truth (Imi), mesh together for the bloom of youth (Michael). They had always known what she would become. They had always known how special her boy would be, and to this day she wept over it almost every night. Her son would not lead a normal life or have the pleasures others take for granted. No. He was meant for more than that. He had been born to save the world, for no less or more, and each time she remembered it snapped her heart clean in two.

What she wouldn't give to take it all away and give him the normal, peaceful life he deserved.

"What about the vile James gave you before you left?" Merlin continued, unaware of her inner plight. "The Ziana? The liquid that could make you immortal?"

She shook her head. "I haven't used it. I was saving it in case Michael ever got hurt or for when he came of age, since I doubt he would want to look like a fifteen year old for the rest of eternity."

Merlin nodded in understanding, but at the same time allowed his gaze to remain fixed on her. "And what if you had ever needed it?" He pushed. "You would have used it for you as well right?"

"Nope," she chirped with light enthusiasm, but it was impossible to miss the resolute note in her tone. "If I died then I had instructed him not to use it so that he could keep it. He comes first."

The young warlock released a heavy breath of frustration through his nose. "Imi-"

"Michael comes first," she fiercely interrupted, seizing her fathers' arm and halting his movement. "He always comes first, are we understood? Before me, before Arthur, before Mum and James and you – he comes first. Now you're back in our lives you need to promise me as Jorma has that no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, you will fight until your last breath to save him."

Merlin broke their shared gaze to stare off at nothing in particular. "I can promise I will give my life for him, but-"

"Not good enough," she once again interrupted. "He is my whole world. He is my very reason for existing, I cannot _breathe _without him, and I know you know how that feels," she commanded his fragile eyes back to look at her with her words. Yes he did know how that felt, because he was looking into the eyes of the very thing that did that for him. "Promise me, Daddy. Promise me."

His stare was hard as he regarded her. She had grown more persistent, more determined in her time here, and she knew that if he promised her something then he would fulfil it with all the strength he had. "I promise," he abruptly rushed out, having to recoil as he realised what he had just done. That he had agreed to sacrifice everything he loved, Morgana, Bella, Imi, Arthur and Camelot, all for this boy he had just met. Blood or otherwise, it hadn't felt good.

"Merlin," Arthurs' commanding voice was right on cue, and earned their attention. "Why have you stopped? And why do you look like you've seen another dead unicorn?"

Merlin and Imi turned back to each other, sharing a silent connection. "Never mind, let's go," he answered, pushing past his king. "I can see the portal back to our world up ahead, and I suspect Morgana is there waiting for us on the other side."

Arthur scoffed. "Doubtful. Mordred said that-"

"Mordred?" Merlin whipped around to face him, cutting the royal off and worrying him with the look in his eyes. "Why would you mention him after all these years?"

Arthur shot his once manservant an odd look, but continued nonetheless. "Because he was the sorcerer asking for help this morning, the one Gwaine told us wanted help rescuing Anna. You would have known that if you hadn't run off."

"Anna's in danger?" Imi tried to ascertain, but her father wouldn't allow it.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" The young warlock demanded of the fair haired king. "We've been here for hours – you could have told me anytime."

Arthur scrunched up his face in disbelief. "Like When? Maybe when we were cutting through the monsters? Or when we found your _grandson_? Or perhaps when beard face here turned into a giant snake! No offence."

"Non-taken," Jorma grunted.

"Mordred cannot be trusted, Arthur," Merlin fired back. "My destiny is to unite Albion with you as sovereign. His destiny is to kill you and destroy all of it, to burn it down to nothing. You should have told me this."

Arthur could only gape slightly at him, this being the first time he had ever heard this. "Mordred is destined to kill me?" He quizzed, earning himself a feverish nod for his trouble. "So then, why would James trust him with Anna's safety?"

Merlin shook his head, dumbfounded by the seemingly random question. "What?"

"Who is this Anna?" Jorma intervened, curious as to how this much trouble had started around one girl.

"Anna Regus," Imi explained for him, as well as gaining Mars' immediate attention. "She's your Dads' little sister, Michael, and you might say their close. Some even say they're more like father and daughter than siblings."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Indeed, but for whatever reason he left her with Mordred and Morgause with instructions to come to us should anything happen to her whilst he was away. Well apparently it did. She's being used as bait to lure James into a trap and, well, you know Morgana."

"She went running after her with Mordred," Merlin finished for his king, rewarded by a nod of approval. Merlin sighed and buried his face in his hands. He didn't like this. He didn't like any of it. He didn't like that Morgana and Mordred were working together, he didn't like the idea of James trusting them so much that he would leave Anna in their care, and he really didn't like the idea of Morgana putting herself in danger without him there. Normally, due to the incredible rise in her skills wielding magic in the last four years, he wouldn't be quite so concerned. But he knew his wife better than he knew himself. When it came to saving those she cared for then she would do…impulsive things in order to get the result she wanted. Her heart, her passion clouded her mind and she would forget her own needs.

Mars' allowed his head to hang as he digested this information. For some reason his mother had never told him of this Anna Regus, and yet now she was claiming that she and his father were close. It was suspicious at best, but that wasn't what plagued him. This Anna was his aunt, perhaps one of the few relatives he had, and apparently she was in danger. He lifted his head, a determined stare on his face. He knew what he had to do.

He would save her.

Now.

The young boy suddenly pounced into a full out sprint, jolting everyone there in surprise and leaving them in his wake. The group as a whole could only watch as he charged toward the gate on the other side, gawking in mild confusion at the abrupt departure…all except for Imi. The girl from the future instead followed her boy's movements with a mixture of fright and anger radiating off of her in almost visible waves.

"Michael! No!" She cried, but he wasn't listening. Instead he simply disappeared amongst the trees and left their sight.

"What's he doing?" Merlin asked, feeling a sense of urgency bubble in his gut.

Imi ground her teeth together, a low growl escaping her as she did. "He's going to save Anna, probably because he thinks she is part of his as of yet miniscule family."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Merlin queried.

"Not if he's not thinking," Jorma sided with Imi. "He'll put himself in danger, and probably others as well."

Arthur blinked. "But Mordred said that only a priestess of the old religion can get inside the dungeon Anna is being held in. Even if he tries-"

"My boy doesn't try," Imi cut in. "He succeeds. He has too much of his father in him to fail. Jorma, I need your Jacinth ring."

Jorma whirled on her, his expression a clear sign of his distress. "I beg your pardon? Jacinth is the only protection I have against the Regus line."

"And hence why I don't trust you with it," she snapped, before seizing his hand and yanking off a thick gold ring with a deep ruby crystal in the center. "Thank you, now help me stop my boy."

Jorma shook his head. "He is the only Regus Jacinth doesn't work on, remember? He doesn't have a weakness. You can't stop him."

"Watch me," she stated with a bounce of her eyebrows, before she too charged off in the direction of the open gateway. Jorma firmly closed his eyes, as if praying for patience, and followed soon after.

Merlin and Arthur shared a look, realising that they had been left behind. "So…?" Merlin began, glancing at Imi and Jorma sprinting away. "Guess it's back to running for our lives."

Arthur merely sent him a bored look. "This is what you missed so much it couldn't wait another year?"

Merlin shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Better than sitting on our bottoms getting fat."

"What are you saying?" Arthur was quick to interject, a scowl resting over his face.

"Nothing sire," the young warlock demanded with mock sincerity. "You're still very much fighting fit."

The once and future king remained suspicious, but allowed it to pass nonetheless. "Good."

"…Give or take a few pounds-"

"Right!" Arthur made a lunge for his advisor, but Merlin was prepared as always. He evaded his kings' attempts and ran off after Imi and their new friends. "Merlin! Merlin get back here! Don't you dare start that again! I am NOT fat!"

* * *

"You're real!?" Morgana demanded, taking a dangerously volatile step towards a concerned looking James Regus.

He backed off slightly, his hands coming up to display his surrender. "Yes, alright yes I am but I have my reasons for-"

"You lied to me! AGAIN!" She screeched, lunging forward and swinging for his head.

He ducked underneath her assault and scooted backwards, desperate to gain as much distance from her as possible. "Yes I did but just let me explain."

"Why should I!?" She demanded, positively outraged. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to tear him in half and then rip apart the remains, to see him burn in an endless sea of fire. "How do I know what you'll say will be the truth? I can't trust anything you say and do ever again!" She screamed at him.

He shrugged, unsure what to do. "Look I'm sorry, but we have to get out of here-"

"You're sorry?" She breathed, looking at him as if he were the scum of all creation. "They told me I was wrong, did you know that? Merlin, Arthur and even Mordred told me you must have lied, that you would have to remember us because it just didn't make sense. Why would you watch over us for four years if you didn't know who we were? Why would you order Mordred and Morgause to come to us if anything ever happened to Anna if you didn't trust us anymore? But I wouldn't believe it. I stood up and told them that they were wrong. That James Regus wouldn't lie, not to me," she shook her head. "Never to me. Not after what you told me about Anna."

James lowered his head, feeling little stabs of remorse jab at him. "Morgana, we need to go."

"No, no you owe me this," She demanded of him, eyes swimming in wrath. "Why would you do it? What was the point?"

He stared at her as if assessing her resolve, but was unable to find a way past her questions. "Fine," he finally conceded, his tone one of frustration. "I did it because I knew I couldn't look you in the eye every day and not break Imi out of the void before it was time. I did it because if you asked me even once, I couldn't be sure I would say no. I did it because you didn't need me there to remind you of what you had lost, and frankly given Imi's resemblance to you I couldn't even look at you without being reminded of what I had lost too. I wasn't strong enough. Satisfied?"

She glared at him from under her eyebrows, but despite her efforts could not hide the sad gleam in her eyes. "So you're saying you lied, for us?"

"No, for you and me," he corrected. "But at the same time I couldn't leave you open to attack from other sorcerers, and without knowing we were friends there was no way they would leave Camelot alone despite Arthur accepting magic. So yes, I watched over you every day. I was there when you gave birth to Bella, when Gwen announced she was pregnant, but I stayed in the skies wishing with everything I had that someone had had the decency to lie to me too. Trust me, you got the better deal."

She felt the fire in her begin to dissipate a little. "But…you knew about what the sister of fate said, about how fate would have given me the chance to banish my so called love for you."

"I read your mind," He admitted. "It was the only way for me to convince you I was part of your imagination, and therefore allow me to leave once I had gotten you out of here – which by the way we still need to do. Besides, you wouldn't have believed me if I told you I was real then anyway."

She shook her head, holding her hand up to halt him. "Wait, to leave? You wanted to leave once I had escaped? Why?"

He took a deep breath before releasing a sigh. "Because I have something that I need to do, something that can't wait any more, and I have to get back to it once I'm done sweeping up your mess."

"Like what?" She interrogated, taking a few steps toward him. "What is so important that you can't stay with us this time? That would make you leave Anna after all she's been through today?"

"It's my business," he answered instantly, his mask of nonchalance falling over his features. Her eyebrows knit together at his distant response. Well that had gotten her nowhere.

"Except it's not just your business anymore, is it?" She probed even further. "Anna is my sister, and I want to know what was so urgent that you left her with people with questionable morals."

He raised his eyebrows at her presumption. "You have no place when it comes to Anna, understood? You've played no part in her up-bringing, you've only known her for a year that never happened, you've done nothing – sacrificed nothing for her."

"I gave up my family, my life so she could escape this place," she seethed, her jaw clenching. "And why? Because you weren't there to save her. She's not just you're girl anymore. Now she's mine too."

He took a dangerous step toward her. "Having a fleeting blood relation gives you no right to-"

"I'd die for her tomorrow," she cut in, shoving her chin in the air. "That's what gives me the right, not the blood relation. Blood means nothing, I know that. If it did then I would love Uther as a father as you would love yours. So like it or not, I'm going to tell you how it is with MY little girl."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did you just call Anna your little girl?"

"Yes. I. Did," she announced proudly.

"But…" he stammered, confused by what was happening. "But that's what I say."

She shrugged. "So? Now I do too."

"But…but…" He continued, looking at her with the eyes of an angry, baffled child. "She's mine."

Her own determined stare softened at this, realising why he was being so defensive. It wasn't his doubt in her abilities, it wasn't that he didn't trust her or any arrogance that he alone could watch over the young princess. "I'm not taking her away from you, James," she assured, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You will always be the authority when it comes to Anna, I'm just saying listen to me from time to time. And I'm saying that right now she needs you, so much so in fact that she went out into the night looking for you and ended up being trapped down here as bait. "

He held her gaze for a bit, before letting his head fall in his hands. "I understand but this thing I'm working on, it's important. Besides Anna's growing up. The last few years she's stopped listening to me, started challenging everything I do and say. Whatever I tell her she goes out and does the opposite. She doesn't need me like she used too, and as I said there's something else I need to do. She'll be fine."

"How can you be so clever and yet SO stupid," she threw back. "She needs you there to protect her, to tell her everything is going to be alright whether she asks for it or not. That is YOUR job. Trust me when I say a girl needs her father, and Anna will always need you whether she's six or a hundred and six," she said as gently as she could, trying to use her eyes to further explain the importance of her words and calm her still throbbing temper. "Don't leave her again, James, or you'll have me to deal with this time."

He closed his eyes, very clearly debating it over in his head. "We don't have time for this," he finally stated, causing her to hang her head in defeat. He still wasn't listening. "I still have to get you out of here. Let's go," he commanded, pulling on her arm to lead her back down the corridor they had been heading before. With extreme reluctance she followed after him, trudging her feet as if she were in a swamp.

"How did you even find me?" She asked, though sounding like a sullen teenager.

He sent her a patronising look over his shoulder. "My mothers' necklace, the one I gave you-"

"Before you lied," she interrupted, a hollow smile growing on her features.

"Yes, and after I saved your husband' life – not for the first time or in spite of you threatening me," he threw back at her, rewarded by her hollow smile melting away. "I told you it could call to me, but that you would need to feel it. When you became trapped down here it sensed your fear and sent it to me. So here I am, to save you," he turned away from her. "Again."

This time she let her head hang in her shame. It was true. All of it. Here he was to save her, after all the times he had done it before, and she had almost ripped him apart. Guilt flooded her. She should have felt honoured that the famed sorcerer prince would drop everything just to help her, and so she sucked up her lingering resentment and decided upon attempting forgiveness.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," she apologised in a small voice after a few moments of silence, reminding herself of how she used to apologise to Uther when she was a little girl.

"You tried to kill me too," he replied, his back still facing her as they walked. "A smidgen more upset about that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Upset?"

"Yes upset," he threw back. "I can have feelings too you know. I'm a person, not a sausage."

She smiled in spite of herself. "You could have stopped me."

"Yes I could," he answered with a bounce of his eyebrows. "But that would have just made you angrier."

She pursed her lips. "I think you're afraid of women."

"What?" He scrunched up his face, bewildered. "Do you have any idea how many mother issues I have? Of course I'm afraid of women. Any sensible man is."

She nodded her approval. "Good. Keep it that way," she added with a grin, ignoring the scathing look he sent her over his shoulder. "So since you apparently know everything, what are you going to do about the baby?"

He frowned, barely listening to her due to his mind connecting all the clues surrounding them. The ones that were invisible to her. "What baby?"

She focused on his back at this, barely blinking. "You know, the one I hope Merlin is going to be bringing back from the void…with Imi?"

"Blue, I'm kind of busy," he sighed, distracted. "Why would Imi be looking after a baby in the void?"

She abruptly stopped walking at this, her lips lightly parted and eyes wide open. He didn't know. He didn't know Imi had been pregnant when she had entered the void. He didn't know he either was going to be or already was a father to her grandchild. After all the rooting around in her head he had done, after all the time he had spent watching over them for the past four years, he still didn't know.

He turned around to face her when he realised she wasn't following him anymore, a heavy frown on his face. "Oi, enough stalling. The ceiling is rising at an angle so slight it can hardly be seen and yet the floor is remaining parallel as if it wasn't – why? Because higher ceilings give the impression of space – space gives the illusion of emptiness – emptiness invites silence AND silence is the most effective torture method to have ever existed. It brings all those waiting fears to the surface and lets you haunt yourself, let's your imagination do all the work for it."

She gaped at him, not just because he had actually thought of that but because of his genuine denial of knowledge when it came to his own child, to her grandchild. "I see," she eventually breathed out, trying to swallow down her raw surprise. "What does that mean?"

"It means that it's inviting us to go this way," he answered with a smirk. "BUT we have four more exits and only one of them appears to be safe. That one has a very slight amber glow to it reminiscent of the Delosperma nubigenum, an hallucinogenic flower which only grows on scorched earth and considering an adrenaline rush naturally stimulates heightened corporeal devices ensures that we would both inhale the dimethyltryptamine concurrently laced in the atmosphere AND the natural chemical created from the nubigenum."

She stared at him, eyes wide, and couldn't bring herself to blink. "What did you just say?" She wheezed out. "I was looking at you, listening, it was all in the right language and yet I did not understand a word."

He offered her a patronising look. "There's a magic amber flower that makes you see things that way," he simplified, rewarded by her understanding smile.

"Oh!" She happily chirped. "Very well, then what's wrong with the other two – and put it simply," she ordered when he opened his mouth.

The sorcerer prince pouted slightly. "What's the point in being clever if you can't show off?"

"Good question," she conceded. "If you're so clever then you tell me."

This time he glowered at her, only to have her smile sweetly back at him. What had happened to people being afraid of him? "…That way leads further down into the dungeon and the other has a hallucination of my mother standing just behind it. Hi Mum!"

Morgana whipped around to face the doorway, and much to her shock a woman stepped out. "Hello sweet-"

"Burn in hell, bitch," James interrupted, lifting his hand and blasting her right between her eyes. Morgana screamed, her hands coming up to cover her mouth, trying to ignore the fact that her friend was completely unfazed by his actions. "Ok, so that leaves door number four. I totally just made a rhyme. Door number four, now listen to this oddity and squeeze past that dead body."

She turned her horrified gaze onto him. "You just killed her," she gasped.

"So?" He shrugged. "I told you I had mother issues."

Her forehead wrinkled, her disbelief now beginning to numb her limbs. "But…she was your _mother_!"

"She was a weapon the dungeon was using – a hallucination," he replied sternly. "And if not then that's what she gets for always making me eat my broccoli – BANG! Right between the eyes! HA!"

The black haired beauty tried to talk, but every time she did mere breaths escaped her. "…Broccoli?"

"Imagine what I'd do if she made me eat turnips," he grinned at her. "Or got me a pet badger. I hate badgers."

"…Badgers?"

"I _despise_ them," He admitted, scrunching up his handsome features and giving his head a shake. "Couldn't even tell you why but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the wet noses. Alright, door number four – the sublime rhyme – OH! Somebody stop me before I become irresistible."

He marched toward the only safe door, unaware or simply not caring that she was gawking at him, before stopping dead and gazing at the wall. She followed his line of vision to see some form of shape scribbled on it. With a frown she strode on over to him, standing on her tip toes slightly to see over his shoulder.

"What is it, crazy?" She asked with a smirk, trying to fight back a full smile when he shot her a dark look.

"It's a map…" he finally answered, and just like that rushed forward and licked the wall.

"Oh!" Morgana winced, her nose wrinkling in her disgust. "Oh that wasn't pleasant."

He continued his all factory investigation, sniffing all over the wall. "Still worried about banishing your love for me?"

"The fact that you need to even ask me that is a sign that you're not normal," She had to answer, rewarded by his grin in the face of her repulsion. "Hasn't that wall been there for thousands of years…without being cleaned once?"

He bounced his eyebrows. "Well it has now."

"Ew," she murmured under her breath, but with all her might couldn't hide the slight amusement that stirred from it. "Well, at least you're not boring. I just hope Imi can handle all the crazy."

He took one last inhale and straightened, eyes focused on the so called map. "It wasn't made by magic. Whoever did this, they weren't under the influence of Turf – maybe a prisoner seeking to help others before they died."

"That's good though isn't it?" She asked, becoming concerned when his usually flamboyant expression had turned serious. "Oh no. I know that look. What's wrong?"

He swallowed, his eyes sparkling a little. "I think one of my ancestors drew this," he muttered, the black haired beauty having to strain her ears to be able to hear him. "And according to him, there is only one way out, and he wasn't able to do it."

She knit her eyebrows together, studying his focused expression. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn he was terrified. "I'm sorry to hear he must have been trapped down here, but I thought you were the most powerful member of your family? And how could you know it was your ancestor who drew this?"

"It's not a matter of power, Morgana," he whirled on her. "It has to do with the bloodline. My own to be exact," he answered, before turning his now sparkling eyes back onto the map and heaving a heavy sigh. Now she was beginning to become afraid. She hadn't seen him this scared since he'd realised Anna was dead. "What do you know about Jacinth?"

She glanced at the map once more as if looking for answers, but found none. "I have no idea. What is it?"

"It doesn't matter," he breathed out and then sighed once more, turning to smile at her. "I promised to get you home, and I will," he said gently, earning her worried stare.

She lowered her brow as she regarded him. "What are you going to do?"

He offered her a thin smile once again, every inch of it laced with a sadness she couldn't pin point, before he grabbed her arm and pulled her gently through the door. "Come on," he urged, turning round and walking down the apparently safe hall. "Stay close, turf is about to start living up to its reputation. Up until now it's almost been helping us."

She followed closely behind, spooked by the immortals behaviour. Whatever scared James Regus would surely be something worth panicking about. "I never thanked you," she remembered as they walked, shooting glances at every shadow and corner.

She didn't need to be able to see his face to know he was frowning. "Thank me for what?"

"For coming down here to rescue me," she answered. "I'm sure you knew there was a chance you wouldn't make it out yourself. So thank you, for trying."

He shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "You never have to thank me, Blue. You did the same for Anna knowing you wouldn't make it out, and knowing my girl as I do she would have found a way to come back down here to mindlessly repay the favour," he took a deep breath, the very thought of it clearly unnerving him. "I couldn't let that happen."

She smiled fondly at his back. She knew he didn't mean for it to sound that way, but it was incredibly sweet to hear him so blatantly express his deep panic for Anna's well-being without even knowing he was doing it. To him Anna getting into trouble wasn't even an option. "You're a good father."

He froze at her words and turned stunned eyes to stare her down, clearly beyond shocked. "…No one has ever said that to me before," he realised, still gawking at her and earning her touched smile. He gave his head a shake. "Um, thank you," he replied, not knowing what else to say. "Really, thank you."

"You're welcome," she breathed, still smiling…until he suddenly jerked and tensed. She jolted back a little. She hadn't been expecting that, and it was only when he began gritting his teeth and clutching his stomach that she overcame it. "James? James what's wrong? What is it?" She fussed, stepping forward and cupping his now shuddering cheeks in her hands.

That was when he let out a low growl and his legs completely buckled underneath him, the sorcerer prince collapsing under his own weight. Her eyes nearly fell from their sockets, her confusion pulling at her every nerve as she desperately tried to break his fall. Eventually though all she could do was lightly lay him on the ground, placing her hand behind his head when she rolled him over on his back.

Her wide, watery gaze shook as she stared right at him. "I don't understand what's happening," she rushed out, desperate for him to explain in spite of his obvious agony.

He managed to lock his emerald eyes onto her icy-blues, his usually powerful stare now bloodshot and shaking. "S…S…Stone," he fought out, biting his own top lip in order to battle through. "Jac…inth…please…help me," he grunted, his face red as tears gathered in the base of his eyes.

She felt like crying. Never in all the time she had known him would she ever have thought she would hear him beg for help. She couldn't even imagine how much pain he was for him to do it, and considering she had gone through the agony of giving birth that was saying something rather profound. "The stone?" She quizzed, not understanding, and forced his quaking finger up to point at the wall behind her.

She spun wildly around, gaze feverish, and finally saw the stone in question. It shone a deep red, glowing like a torch in the dank corridor as if it was reacting to the sorcerer prince mere presence. "Morgana please!" He cried out, earning her truly bewildered attention. Was he screaming out for _her _help? "I can't take it anymore! Please! PLEASE destroy it!"

She watched as he abruptly arched his back as if he had been suddenly struck by lightning, a brutal and raw cry thundering from his mouth. She gasped, terrified. How could a stone do this to the strongest man she had ever known? His skin was losing its colour, turning clammy and pale before her very eyes, and she knew there wasn't much time before he was gone - despite all logic that told her he was immortal.

She whipped around, baring her teeth. "Forloras!" She growled out, immediately shattering the dark red crystal.

James' arched back slammed fully down onto the solid ground under the weight of his exhaustion. His breathing was radically uneven, each breath wheezing at an uncomfortable level, and his eyes remained closed as beads of sweat ran down his unusually pale face. She shuffled hurriedly forward and gathered the frail man in her arms, trying her best to comfort him when she had never even pictured herself doing it before.

She sniffed, thoroughly freaked out by what had just happened. "What was that?" She demanded, not knowing if he could answer her anymore.

He did manage to open his eyes with some effort, and only then about half way. "…Jacinth," he blew out. "…It can…kill any angel descendant…any Regus…with its radiation. I don't know why, or how."

She nodded after thinking over his words. "Alright. I don't understand, but alright. Can you move? I mean you'll heal right?"

"I may need your help," he wheezed, closing his eyes again. "But yes I will heal, eventually."

She nodded once more, trying to hide the fear gripping at her from the man in need. "Then let's get you up, alright?" She asked, and lifted him up with considerable difficulty, slinging his heavy arm around her shoulder. "We're going to get you out of here. I promise."

* * *

The wind blew through his hair as he charged through the trees, the rhythmic thumping of his boots crushing against the earth beneath him was almost like the sound of his own heartbeat to him now. This was where he was born, where he thought he would one day die, before his grandfather had magically appeared from nowhere to take him to another world. Now he suddenly had a family. He had a place that felt warm and welcoming waiting for him just on the other side of the gateway, the one that loomed ever taller the closer he got.

Strangely, a small part of his chest shifted at the thought. As much as he hated this place, it was his home. It was all he knew. Here he was a God, something that couldn't be touched and had to be whispered in case someone overheard. Here there was nothing for him to fear. That was his last thought before he emerged from the tree line, and came face to face with every monster that inhabited this hellish prison.

They were all trying to break through the gate, lost to their fever and the possibility of release. They hissed and roared. The charged and rammed, and bit out at their neighbour in their desperation. They were wild, untamed beasts with only one goal. To survive. But he knew they would not be able to break through the gate. The Dragon on the other side had cast an enchantment, one that was impossible to break through unless you had blood on the other side like he did. His father, this aunt, the child Bella, the ruthless great Grandfathers hiding in their kingdoms.

Michael had it all waiting for him.

As soon as the thought had struck him his mother appeared at his side, followed soon by Jorma and the two new arrivals. "How many times have I told you to…" Imi began, but at the sight of almost every creature in the void clawing at each other in front of her, trailed off. "…Sweet mercy."

Merlin soon joined them, he too gawking at the sight before him. "Are they all trying to escape?"

"They're trying to find a better world in which to inhabit," Jorma explained for him. "This place is hell. I can't blame them."

Arthur shook his head. "We can't let them escape. They'll tear our world to bits."

"How are we meant to stop them?" Merlin asked no one in particular, gazing in hopeless trepidation at the endless creatures before him. "There are thousands of them."

Imi however sent a glance to her son. "Do it," she commanded him, earning all of their bewildered stares. "Do what you do, but then we talk."

His only response was a solemn nod and lowering of his determined stare…before he abruptly lifted his arm in the air and slammed it down on the soil beneath them. A soul shuddering boom echoed through the ground at his movement, the earth physically jumping under their feet. The chaotic noise immediately died, the monsters nightmares were born from halting in their actions, and all attention was drawn to him. From the smallest bug to the mightiest beast, all were gazing at Mars as if they recognised him.

As if they _feared _him.

Merlin and Arthur watched on baited breath, too afraid to inhale in the face of the chilling silence now surrounding them. Mars however was not. His gaze was steady as it somehow managed to glare down the entire masses before him. It remained that way for what felt like an eternity, until the teenage boy casually, if not outright placidly, leisurely rose to his feet. The silence was deafening now. Chills danced up Merlin's arm, goose bumps already forming on his pale skin, until finally it seemed to have reached its pinnacle.

"Run," Mars breathed, steady as a rock.

And they did. From the sky to the earth, the creatures all turned and fled. Each tried to outrun the other. The once chaotic battle to escape the void was the now the battle to run back into it. Some were trampled to death, and those more fortunate disappeared amongst the various clouds or trees. Merlin and Arthur and to a lesser extent Imi and Jorma, watched on in nothing short of wonderment. Even when they had seen James warn off all those Faery had they hadn't been in this much awe. Such fearsome, terrible creatures, and they were all running from a skinny teenage boy who hardly ever uttered a word.

It was, perhaps, the most incredible display they had ever seen.

But before they could even voice their amazement, Mars had already begun walking forwards. His stare was fixed on the open gateway before them, not even glancing at the creatures as they fled. It was then that Merlin saw it. His Grandson wasn't a man or a God. No. He was something else entirely, something he wasn't able to comprehend. Frankly, he was everything Kilgharrah had said he would be and more.

He was the saviour.

"That…" Arthur began behind him, but clearly couldn't finish.

Imi grew a smile, one she obviously couldn't prevent. "Incredible?" She asked, waiting for her Uncle's nod before releasing a small snort of amusement. "That was nothing. Just you wait until you see what he can really do," she added, rewarded by Merlin and Arthur's flummoxed expressions. "Believe me, it will make you question whether God made him, or simply got bored and decided to be born again," and with that, followed after her boy in the face of their bemusement.

"I hate this term," Jorma began next to them. "Really I do hate it, but I told you so," he sighed, and began after Imi once more. Although he had to stop to round on them, shooting them questioning looks. "Well? Come on. I thought you wanted to get home?"

Merlin and Arthur shared a look, before turning back to the serpent and gormlessly replying. "Alright," they simultaneously agreed, slowly walking after them.

Imi jogged to catch up with her son, coming to a steady halt as she reached his side. "You're not going after Anna," she stated, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"If she's important to my father, then she's important to me," he deadpanned, attention still fixed on the gateway.

"And you're important to me," she added swiftly, shooting him a commanding look. "You don't know that world. I'm not going to let you go running off to save the day when-"

"You didn't tell me about Anna because you were afraid my father wouldn't love me like he loves her, right?" He interrupted her.

Imi's expression morphed into one of surprise before she could stop herself. "Mikey…he doesn't know you exist, and with Anna-"

"If he doesn't love me, then I'll make him," He cut in once more, earning his mothers' sympathetic glance. "And to do that I'll have to save the thing he loves most. You will not talk me out of this one," he declared with unwavering resolve. "My father will love me. I promise."

Imi gently closed her eyes, her heart breaking at his naivety. "Sweetheart, you can't _make _someone love you. It's not how it works."

"You know me better than anyone else in the existence," Mars answered. "You've given up everything for me. You've killed, you've suffered and you would jump in front of any attack if it meant sparing me even the slightest harm. In all that time have you ever, even once, known me to fail? Ever?" He quizzed, his answer coming in the form of her open silent mouth. He nodded in affirmation. "I love you Mum, but don't tell me what I can and cannot do when you are the one who doesn't know how it works."

She could only remain silent as they continued walking, until eventually the three boys managed to catch up. "Michael," Merlin began, a little out of breath. "Michael…that was ama-"

"When we step into the gateway," Michael cut in, earning his grandfathers' gaze of confusion. "We'll be transported to our nearest living blood relative. You should all be prepared."

Jorma scowled at his words. "So what does that mean for me? I have no blood relatives."

"I don't care," was his response as he marched, finally coming up to stand before the gateway. "My best guess, you'll be randomly placed," he added at his mothers' stern look, before taking a deep breath. "**Epsipass imalla krat!**" He abruptly roared, much to Merlin's shock.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, shooting glances all around him now. They had only just escaped the dragons the last time, and now he was summoning them? Had the boy gone mad with power?

"Mum told me only one dragon remains in your world," Was his reply from his stoic Grandson. "At this moment, that Dragon has been exhausting himself to save that world, to stop the creatures here from invading it. Don't you think he deserves a gift? Like his species not dying out?" At Merlin's reluctant stare he waved him off. "They will not harm an innocent, this I have commanded of them," he stated, as if it were a fact, just as the roar of the dragons echoed from behind them.

The five watched as the ensemble of dragons soared through the air, storming toward their position in front of the towering open gateway. There were over twenty of them. All of them fully grown excluding two or three slightly smaller ones. All of them desperate for release. As they neared, Michael swung round and slammed his hand up against the fabric between the two worlds. Upon his touch the fabric melted away, leaving nothing to stop anything from entering the other side.

Kilgharrah recoiled on the other side, his powerful ancient spell having been eradicated at Mars' touch. Before him stood five individuals. Merlin, Arthur, Imi, Michael and Jorma, standing silently on the other side, all gazing at him as if they had never seen a dragon before. All except for Mars, who retained his blank unimpressed expression.

"Hello Dragon," Michael greeted the ancient beast, who continued to gawk at him. "My name is Mars, and I have a gift for you."

Kilgharrah, who was confused as to why the five were still waiting to cross back into their world amongst other things, lowered his reptilian brow. "A gift?" He enquired.

Michael smiled a thin a smile. "Yes indeed," he replied. "Say hello to your extinct kin."

Kilgharrah managed to lower his giant brow even further…until the first of the Dragons flew in over the waiting fives' heads. The ancient beast leapt back in surprise at the abrupt arrival of his kin, looking more surprised than Merlin had ever even imagined he could be. But it was when all the others soared into view that the young warlock had to release a full out grin. Never could he have hoped to have seen the joy on his old friends face. Now he could see why Mars had done this. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw tears in Kilgharrah's magical golden eyes.

"Who…?" Kilgharrah began, but clearly found it hard to finish. Emotion had consumed him. "Who may I thank for saving my kind?"

Merlin, who was still grinning like an idiot, nodded in Mars direction. "You can thank my grandson," he answered, warranting the even more astonished expression melting over his ancient face. "James and Imi's son."

Kilgharrah, for a moment, seemed speechless. He was looking upon the most revered individual the scriptures had ever spoken of, and sure enough within the first minute of meeting him had brought his extinct species back to life. "I can already see that you not only share your Mothers' compassion, but your Grandfathers' wisdom, and your fathers' boundless brilliance," he praised, truly touched. "And know, that you have me and my kinds eternal support and friendship."

"He's a special boy," Imi said proudly, rubbing circles on her boys' back.

"My kind will remember this day for an eternity, Saviour," Kilgharrah thanked with a bow of his head, and therefore missed the slight frown on Michael's face at the title. "It is both an honour and a true privilege to have met you."

Imi smiled, touched by the dragons' words. "Thank you, Kilgharrah," she acknowledged him with a bow of her own, before turning to Jorma. "But if you wish to repay us then please look after our friend, Jorma. He needs your help."

Jorma whipped his head around to stare at her. "What are you doing?"

"You have no blood on the other side," Imi explained. "You have to step through now or who knows where you'll end up. Our friend will take good care of you, right?" She asked, turning to look at Kilgharrah with questioning eyes.

The great Dragon however seemed reluctant. His gaze locked with the serpents, a long moment of silence passing before he eventually bowed his head. "If that is how I must repay this great favour, then so be it."

Merlin and Arthur scrutinised the hesitation in his tone. Why had he seemed so reluctant when he wanted nothing more than to repay them? Jorma nodded along, clearly nervous about returning home after so many years.

"Very well, my Lady," He breathed out, sending nervous glances into the world he once belonged too, and offering Imi a sad little smile. "And thank you for…well everything."

Imi smiled right back at him. "I understand if you feel the need to do otherwise, but this shouldn't be goodbye. If you find yourself alone then you must come find me in Camelot. I owe you that much."

"I'm not sure that is wise, but perhaps worth a try," Jorma replied with a nod. "Perhaps James Regus is a better man than his father after all," he said, sharing a smile with her, before turning to Michael. "Look after your mother, boy, and yourself as well. We're never as invincible as we think, and I hope that when you finally find your father he is everything you imagined him to be. Though I doubt it-"

Michael suddenly lifted his hand toward the gateway, sending Jorma flying back into the realm which he was born. Imi opened her mouth in disgust. "Michael!"

"I'm not letting him insult my father anymore," he fought back, before turning his attention back to the gateway and removing his hand. Almost immediately the fabric that had once been there returned, Kilgharrah and Jorma disappearing behind a veil of shining blue.

Imi clenched her jaw, now fuming with her boy. "That's no excuse to behave like a Regus!"

"I am a Regus, Mum," he added calmly.

"No, you're not," She chastised, bringing her head back slightly to emphasise her point. "You are so much more than that, and it's time you acted like it."

He shook his head. "Instead of what?"

"Instead of trying to be like the father you've never met," she fired at him, rewarded by his lightly surprised look. Clearly he hadn't thought she was that perceptive.

"She's right, Michael," Arthur chimed in, turning all attention to him. "James can be rude and obnoxious and damn right brash, but he shows respect to those who have earned it. He would be ashamed of what you just did."

It was blunt, Imi realised, but also necessary. Arthur was always honest, always ready to shine a light on the truth, and it was how she had raised her boy. Not that it didn't hurt her to see the flash of shame cross Michael's features at the statement, but it was what he needed.

"You're young," Merlin felt the need to say, surprised by the swelling of compassion for the boy in his gut. "You'll learn that just because you can do things, doesn't mean you always should. It takes time."

Michael nodded, before turning to his mother. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice, the one that always washed away any anger she felt towards him like a tidal wave.

"You'll apologise to Jorma when we see him again," she replied, lightly patting him on the chest. "Now come, I want to leave this place and never think of it again. What do we do?"

Mars swallowed down any lingering emotions, something he was very good at doing, and gazed at the gateway. "We step into the gateway, and be transported to our nearest living relatives."

Arthur nodded. "Good, then I'll go first," he commanded, stepping up to the gateway and only looking back when he felt their eyes on him. Sure enough, when he turned round they were all staring at him as if he were the devil. "What? I'm king, I should go first."

"What happened to ladies first?" Merlin asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Lady?" He asked, scrunching up his face. "Oh you mean Imi!"

She grew a mildly offended look. "Thanks, Uncle Arthur. That was special."

"I assumed she's not going until Michael goes," Arthur answered. Merlin turned around to look at her, who grudgingly nodded that he was right. Arthur bounced his eyebrows. "See. Not just a handsome face."

Merlin shook his head. "That last sentence had too many words."

"Well now you know how I've felt since you walked into my life," The king teased, earning his advisors bored look.

The young warlock sighed. "What about women and children first then?"

"Nope. The king always goes first."

"Why can't I go first?"

Arthur burst out laughing, causing Merlin to roll his eyes. "Oh dear. I'll tell you what Merlin, sometimes you remind me why I keep you around instead of executing you. When you don't try, you can be very funny."

"Just go!" Merlin finally ordered.

Arthur grinned and stepped into the gateway, disappearing into the blue veil. The remaining three paused for a while, as if waiting for an explosion, but when nothing happened released a breath they hadn't realised they had been holding.

"Alright Michael, you're next," Merlin instructed, Imi nodding in her agreement.

The teenage boy stepped up, now one step away from all the stories his mother had regaled him with his entire life. But even so, there was only one thing on his mind. All his life his dream had been the same, to meet the man who was his father. To actually have that possibility now, knowing he was about to come face to face with one and only James Regus, was so nerve wracking that he began to feel a little nauseous at the prospect.

He took a deep breath and lowered his determined gaze. He was Michael Regus. He would not be frightened by anything, and it was with this singular focus that he took his first step to realize his dreams.

* * *

Gwen gingerly lowered herself down into the most comfy chair in the throne room, her swollen pregnant stomach bulging out as she did. With a groan she finally lowered herself into the throne seated at Arthurs' throne's right hand side. It was, of course, the very moment she got comfortable that little Bella decided to leap up onto her lap without a thought for her Aunts' comfort. Gwen felt the wind had temporarily been knocked out of her, but as always couldn't hold a grudge against the child. She just didn't understand.

Uther, who was gazing wistfully out of the window, turned at the grunting sound being forced from his daughter-in-laws mouth. Gwen was surprised to see a small yet fond smile trying to fight its way onto his features. "Arthur was the same as a child," he stated in a warm voice.

Gwen knit her eyebrows together, adjusting Bella on her lap in vain attempts for them both to be comfortable. "How so?"

"Whether I was speaking with the council or preparing for war, it never seemed to matter to him," he answered. "He would always run up and jump on my lap no matter what was happening," he continued, before gazing solemnly out the window. "It's strange what the heart misses when it's gone. Even the most annoying things become cherished memories."

Gwen couldn't help it, really she couldn't, but her expression melted into one of sympathy. Hearing Uther talk about family always made her forget what a tyrant he could be, and though she fought against it found herself caring for the man. Yes he could be harsh and cruel, but when it came to his own flesh and blood he became softer the clay.

"It strikes me that Arthur has been spending a lot of time with me lately, because of the baby," she began a little sheepishly. "Perhaps he could spend some time with you when he gets back. I'm sure some male company will do him the world of good."

Uther turned back to her at this, and though he tried to hide it, was clearly touched by the gesture. "I can see why my son fell in-love with you Guinevere," He praised, thoroughly stunning the Queen. Never had Uther uttered a word in favour of the wedding he had deemed inappropriate. "Even if it does go against every rule for generations and makes Camelot weak."

"Camelot isn't weak, Grandpa Uther," Bella stated whilst playing with her tiny hands. "It has the magic man to protect it."

Uther rolled his eyes. "How much longer is she going to keep mentioning him?" He demanded, becoming truly disconcerted at the constant reminder that James Regus had for some reason saved his kingdom, and that his Granddaughter had clearly become fixated on him.

Gwen opened her mouth to answer, slightly amused if she was being honest, but was interrupted by an abrupt and violent explosion of light erupting in the middle of the room. The three occupants all leapt out of their skin, but were even more surprised when Arthur suddenly came tumbling out of it. The fair haired king completed several rolls before coming to an ungraceful stop at the foot of his own throne.

"Arthur!" Gwen cried, shifting Anna off of her lap and moving as quick as she could to his side.

The fair haired king bolted to his feet, somehow unharmed, and gazed furiously round at his surrounds. "Oh thank the heavens," he breathed out, clearly beyond relieved to see his throne room once more, and sucked in an ambitious amount of oxygen. "Oh yes, the air is SO much better in the world."

Gwen, Uther and Bella all shared a strange look. "The air in this world?" Gwen finally asked, unable to work it out in her head.

"Indeed," Arthur replied with a grin, before noticing the people for the first time. "Ah, Guinevere, Father, Bella. It's so nice to see you all again."

Uther nodded, a completely serious look on his features. "I believe he's intoxicated."

"I was just going to say that," Gwen agreed.

Little Bella pulled on her Uncle's trousers, making him look down. "Uncle Arthur…I feel funny."

"It's alright," The king assured. "Merlin, Imi and Michael are on their way."

Gwen's eyes bolted open, as she had to steady herself slightly. "Imi's coming back? Now?"

"Who is this Imi?" Uther questioned, earning both of their surprised looks. "And who is Michael?"

Arthur frowned at his father. Surely someone had told him after all this time, but as he examined his fathers' face he realised that he genuinely didn't know. The only thing was he didn't have time to explain it all to him, not now, because any second someone else was about to come flying through as he had moment before.

"Arthur," Uther prompted strictly, becoming impatient.

"Imi is Bella," Gwen fired out suddenly, expecting the look of utter bafflement to erupt on Uther's expression. "She is who Bella will be when she's all grown up. She's been trapped in a place called the void for the last four years because she wanted to save us, all of us, and she's coming back-"

Another flash of light exploded in the middle of the throne room, and just as Arthur had, Imi and Merlin came blasting into the throne room. The two tumbled forward, Merlin crashing into Arthur's throne whereas Imi came to an eventual skidding stop. Gwen screamed, Arthur merely gaped, Bella leaned on her Uncle's leg and Uther looked downright cross.

"What is going on!?" The former king demanded, having to stamp his foot when he could do nothing else to release his frustration. "Why are people exploding into my throne room?"

Arthur could barely hear him on account of him looking around for a certain missing individual. "It's my throne room father," he reminded him, distracted by his efforts. "Where's Michael?"

Imi snapped her gaze up to gawk at her Uncle. "What do you mean where's Michael?" She demanded, a frantic gleam in her eye that grew with each passing second. "He came before us, meaning he's with you."

Arthur shook his head, but his gaze was worried. "He never arrived."

Imi shot to her feet, Merlin doing the same only with far more difficulty. "Well then where is he?" She almost whispered, every line in her face contorting in her fear. "Arthur, where is my boy!?"

"I don't know," he defended himself, his hands rising in his surrender.

Gwen's frown morphed into one of shock. "Wait, Imi…is Michael your son?"

"Yes!" Imi yelled, now bordering on hyperventilating. "And now he's somewhere all on his own in a world he's never been to before and-" She cut herself off as she finally noticed the Queen, her ice-blue eyes boggling when they travelled down to the other woman's belly. "Oh my God…Gwen…you're pregnant?"

The young Queen grew a warm smile on her face, a hand travelling down to gently stroke her bump. "I am," she sang, before she lurched forwards and embraced the girl.

Imi returned the hug in equal measure, her eyes slamming shut as she fiercely squeezed the woman in her arms. Her second mother, as she had always thought of her. "Congratulations," Imi whispered into her Aunt's shoulder, her voice muffled by her hair. "Trust me, you'll be a wonderful Mother. I've seen it."

Gwen pulled back and had to swipe the tears from her eyes. "You've seen it?"

"In the future," Imi reminded her. "I won't tell you the details, but you were and will be a great Mother," She answered with a huge smile.

"Daddy," Bella finally spoke up, not only earning Merlin's attention but everyone else's as well. "I don't feel well."

Merlin frowned down at the little girl, before stepping forward and swooping her up in his arms. Imi watched the scene, unable to tear her eyes off the two. "What is it?"

"Guards!" Uther bellowed, reminding them all he was still there. "Go and fetch Gaius. My granddaughter is ill."

Arthur rolled his eyes. His father was always so over-protective of his girls. "Father, there's no need to panic-"

"No he's right, Arthur," Merlin interrupted, bringing his hand off of Bella's clammy looking forehead. "Bella doesn't lie, and she feels like she's on fire…" he trailed off when he looked up to see Imi gazing at them, an odd look on her face. He felt shame flood through him. She must find this really weird, having a complete biological duplicate in front of her, and probably even feeling a bit replaced.

"Imi," He began, stepping forward slightly so the two could be nearer to each other. "Meet Bella."

* * *

Gwaine paced up and down, furious with everything and everyone around him, but especially with Morgana. How could she just abandon everything she loved so easily? How could she throw herself into the worst dungeon in the world without even thinking about what she was leaving behind? It didn't make sense to him. Morgause had explained what had happened but he still couldn't really picture it…or maybe he could, and just didn't want to.

"What are we going to do?" The knight demanded, staring at the gormless faces of Morgause, Mordred and Anna. "One of you must know a way to get her out."

Morgause glared out at him from underneath her lashes. "We are trying, Sir Gwaine, but it will take time. We are not James Regus-"

"Then find a way to get him here," he cut in.

"Keep your voice down," Morgause commanded in an urgent whisper. "In case you have forgotten, there are over two dozen armed Saxons just waiting for a sign that they have company on the other side of this building."

"She was wearing my Mothers' chain," Anna's small voice halted the inevitable fight between the two adults.

Mordred frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"I said Morgana was wearing my Mothers' chain," the young princess repeated, although louder this time. "She gave it to my brother just before she died, and it means he already knows where she is. He just doesn't care."

Gwaine shook his head, confused. "I…don't understand."

"Neither do I…" She trailed off, clearly disappointed in the man who had raised her as his own.

"THERE!" All four heads whipped around at the sound of the cry to see a single Saxon, his arms raised and pointing right at them. "They've come! And they have the girl!"

Morgause snarled at the warrior. "Damn."

Within a few moments all of the Saxons had charged round the corner, their swords raised and a cheer of impending victory bellowing from their mouths. Gwaine was stunned. He hadn't realised two dozen men could seem like a thousand until just now, and all they had was one sorceress, two warriors and an eleven year old girl.

"Damn," Gwaine echoed Morgause's words as he unsheathed his blade.

…But there was no need. The Saxons, all of them, were abruptly sent thundering back amidst a dizzying booming noise. All four frowned, all turning to the other in search of answers, but only getting their own confusion mirrored back at them.

Well, until Michael appeared between them and the now fallen warriors.

"Listen to my voice," Mars instructed in a smooth tone, glaring at the two dozen men as they all did as they were told. "Good. Now get up." One by one they all followed his command, their expressions similar to those in a trance. "It's time to go home and see your families, your mission is over. But don't worry, you never really wanted to be here anyway. You thought that the idea of kidnapping a child was wrong and you're just happy to be leaving, in fact you can't wait. Now be on your way, and never again think of any Regus as bait."

"Yes, my Lord," The Saxons chanted as one, before all turning around and walking casually away.

To say that the watching four were stunned would be a criminal understatement. Whoever this boy was, he had just _convinced _an army of Saxons to leave. Before now they hadn't even thought that was possible, or even stopped to consider it, and yet somehow they had just witnessed such a display.

Mars turned around, unsurprised by all their gawking faces. "Is Anna Regus in there?" He demanded, completely expressionless.

Morded took a bold step forward. "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Mars," Michael replied. "And I've come to help Anna Regus. Now is she in there or not?"

Gwaine scoffed, trying to hide a scowling Anna behind him. "Yeah, like we haven't heard that one before. Try again, skinny."

"Fine," Mars huffed. "If you won't tell me then I'll just go in and look for her," and with that he turned toward the dungeon and began walking toward it.

Morgause could only snort. "I think you'll find it more challenging than that. You cannot simply walk through-" Her voice died in her throat when Michael physically walked through the wall, disappearing from view and causing Mordred to actually drop his sword. "…the walls," she finally finished, not knowing what else to do.

The four merely continued to gawk in complete silence for a while, until Gwaine eventually decided to break it. "They all told me to give up the drink, but did I listen?"

* * *

"You weigh more than a castle, did you know that?" Morgana growled out, slumping through the dark corridor with almost the full weight of James Regus forcing itself down on her.

He managed a tired grin. "It's all that muscle. I can't help being perfectly sculpted."

"Right," she humoured him, knowing all too well the delicate nature of the male ego, and continued in her struggles to carry him.

It was odd, but the corridor seemed to be growing darker the further they went. The torches were thinning in their number and the details of their surroundings were becoming harder to determine. All her instincts were telling her they were going the wrong way, screaming that they were walking into a trap, but she didn't trust them anymore. This dungeon had tried to manipulate her at every turn. Preying on her heart, her fears and her instincts in order to lead her to her death. In fact if James hadn't been there then she would have succumbed to every single one of them, and like everyone else who had been trapped down here, would know the true horrors of turf. She had been lucky he was there. Very lucky.

She rounded the corner and passed through another doorway, dragging the immortal along with her…and then stopped dead in her tracks. "What…on…" She began but couldn't finish. Her throat had gone bone dry at the sight before her.

James begrudgingly lifted his head to see why she had stopped so suddenly, only to mirror her expression of utter bewilderment. For there, right in front of them, was Hell itself. The path beneath their feet ended in another step, and what seemed like miles beneath raged the lake of fire. The shadows of countless souls flowed through the burning orange waves, beasts with wings screeched across the black sky, three gargantuan statues of men sat on the only bit of land that wasn't buried underneath hissing spitting flames. But quite possibly the most fearsome part were the three sisters of fate themselves, glowering death at them from their position hovering over the river of fire.

"Oh hell," James breathed out, letting his head sag with fatigue and frustration.

It was then that a giant slab of rock fell down behind them, covering the doorway they had just entered through. Morgana snapped around with a start, nearly losing her footing on the tiny platform they now stood. "Can we blast through it?" She demanded with a note of panic rising in her throat.

"Normally, yes," James fought to get out. The heat from the rapturous fire beneath them stunting his already tragic breathing abilities. "But this rock is similar to that of the walls of the dungeon. No magic can break through it."

She scanned the endless scenery around them, feverishly searching for a way out. "Then what do we do?"

"You accept your punishment, Le Fay," Morgana once again spun around, so startled by the intrusive command that she neglected to think of James's nausea, and came face to face with the three sisters' of fate. "You will suffer for your neglect of our rules, of our commands," Atropos, the sister of death, scorned the black haired beauty.

"Don't listen to her, Morgana," James breathed out. "None of this is real – not them – not anything."

Atropos hovered ever closer, the pale glow of her skin even more haunting when compared to the warm glow of fire surrounding them. "We are indeed real, Almighty Thor," she hissed at him. "Although not so mighty now, are we?"

James glared up at her from underneath his furrowed brow. "All I have to do is speak your name, and you will be banished forever. How's that for mighty?"

Atropos' colourless eyes seemed to flood with rage at his disrespect. "Enough! I will end you now for your insolence and ignorance!"

"Sister!" Clotho reprimanded when Atropos raised her arm toward the prince. "It is _not _his destiny to die today. It was you who decided when that day would come upon his birth, and you will not break your own rules whilst punishing them for doing the same."

The sister of death turned hateful eyes onto her kin. "Why do you treasure them so after everything they have done? Why must you insist on mothering them?"

"Because they are not the ones who lied to get their way," Clotho, the sister of birth, stated and earned Morgana's immediate scrutiny. Lied? What had they lied about? "It was us, sister, who told them that it was God who wanted the Veritas, the daughter of truth, to remain in the void for five years – knowing she would never escape. That Imogen Pendragon would die in the void before those who love her could rescue her from it."

Both James and Morgana could hardly believe their ears, especially James. Morgana had been right all along. Imi would have died had Merlin not been so bold as to break their rules. He, James Regus, had been wrong.

He wasn't sure he had ever been wrong before.

"I was right?" Morgana breathed out. "You tried to kill my baby? You were going to let her DIE!" She abruptly lunged forward, no longer caring that she would fall into the river of fire or that she was about to attack a God. She just didn't. All she knew, all she cared about was making them pay for their deceit, for trying to just rid themselves of her girl, but was fortunately caught by a weak James.

"Morgana! Morgana you have to calm down!"

"I'll kill you!" She spat at the three pulsing Goddesses. "On my fathers' grave! On Bella's life I SWEAR you are all dead!"

Lachesis, the sister of destiny, lowered her ever calm gaze. "Watch what you say, young one. Control your friend, Thor, before we break her."

James twisted his neck around to face her, just as the flash of lightning and the crash of thunder echoed around their surroundings. The power of it was enough to still the thrashing Morgana in his arms. "I may have been weakened, but don't make the mistake of threatening my friends."

Atropos smirked a terrible smirk. "Yes, we have seen what happens to those who hurt the people you love-"

"Why are you here?" He cut in, fighting with everything he had not to attack them himself now. "Hallucinations work together and yet you argue amongst yourselves, like unruly children, so why are you here? Are you real or not?"

Lachesis floated down so she stood on the tiny platform they did, the only thing stopping them from drowning in the river of fire below. "We have come to punish Morgana Le Fay for breaking our rules."

Morgana thrashed once more in his arms, fighting to break free and assault the Goddess once more. "Your RULES were there to kill my little girl!" She screeched at them.

"It matters not," Lachesis continued, her usual calm seemingly in question. "If we command it, then it is for a reason. A good reason. We can see all that is and will be, all that ever was that shaped the now, and your actions have put the saviours' destiny in question. This cannot be allowed."

James eyebrows furrowed. "Saviour…" he breathed out.

"Yes, now hand her over," She demanded, only to have James straighten and stand in front of Morgana.

"You're not touching her," He seethed back. "If you want to punish someone, then punish the one who gave them the opportunity to break your rules – as deceitful as they were."

Clotho lowered her colourless gaze. "You have no right to lecture us on lying for the greater good, my young prince."

James swallowed, trying to ignore the truth in her words but failing. "Nevertheless, you won't lay a finger on her…unless you wish to deal with me first. Oh and by the way, I wouldn't recommend that last one."

Atropos nearly scoffed. "You cannot bluff with us, Thor. You can hardly stand, never mind stop us, but I must admit it was a brave effort-"

"Atropos!" He suddenly called out, and that it seemed was that. Atropos clambered back, colourless eyes alive in her shock, before disappearing like sand in the breeze.

Morgana gaped at the scene, now positively rabid with surprise. Had James Regus just banished a Goddess of fate? "What just happened?" She demanded.

"Speaking a sisters' name out loud forces them back to their home in the underworld," James hurriedly explained. "It doesn't kill them, but they are trapped there for all eternity, unable to come back to the land of the living. Only a sorcerer of royal blood can do it."

"You will pay for that!" Lachesis legendary calm had been destroyed, her sister forever lost to the underworld thanks to the efforts of the man before her.

The small platform crumbled beneath her feet, leaving the two no alternative but to plummet to their deaths. Morgana couldn't help it, really she couldn't, but the scream that escaped her was one off utter terror. She was falling to her death, to be consumed by a river of fire. She didn't know what was real anymore. She didn't know if the fire beneath them was real, but she did know that either way she was going to die without even seeing her Imi, her Bella, her Merlin and her Grandson – the one who would save the world. She would never even know him, never know what all the fuss was about or how great he truly was.

But that was when she felt James suddenly latch onto her, holding her bridal style whilst they fell. She locked gazes with him, shocked. She hadn't thought he was strong enough to do anything, and as she looked at him she realised she was correct. His cheeks were wobbling and bright red, his eyes trying to burst from their sockets. He was trying to fly. They were slowing down but not fast enough, the sorcerer prince giving it absolutely everything he had and more, until finally they just stopped dead in the air.

A small gasp escaped her at the abruptness of it. She had been so scared, so sure she was going to die, that her whole body was numb. All she could do was cling to a drained James Regus, the man very clearly fighting just to remain hovering in the air. With a firm blink she finally sucked up enough courage to look down to see they were only two paces from the raging lake of fire. Two more seconds of falling and both of them would have been lost in it, becoming one of the countless lost souls streaming through it like waves.

With wide eyes she brought her troubled gaze back up to stare at James's still clenched features. "Are…you alright?" She managed to breathe out, her heart still pounding in her chest.

He nodded feverishly. "Yep. Yes, I think so," he let out a small puff of air, feeling a burning heat rise to his head. "I'm just…I'm just a little tired from the Jacinth, but if we just wait-" The two suddenly plummeted a pace more, earning Morgana's small yelp and forcing her to hold on even tighter. "Sorry, having a bit of trouble flying. It happens to every man now and then," he growled out.

Morgana looked down once again, knowing they couldn't have another accident like that and live. "Pretend I'm Anna," she suddenly instructed, locking gazes with him once more.

He scowled at her, hard. "What?"

"Just do it," she urged, constantly glancing down at the lake beneath them. "You wouldn't let Anna die – not here – not ever. You would dig deep and find that little extra bit of strength you didn't even know was there."

He grit his teeth and let out a low growl. "Morgana there's nothing left!"

"Do you know what those sisters of fate told me before you arrived during the wicked war?" She continued despite his dejection. "They told me it was always Anna's destiny to die, that if you don't stop them the fates will take her from you just like Malum once did!"

His already strained eyes turned feral at this. "I know, and they wouldn't dare," he growled, every word laced with fierce determination.

"But they will, because they think it's the right thing to do, now pretend I'm her and save her!" She commanded, desperation etched into her tone. She knew from experience that trying to save your child was different from saving a friend. That when it was your own flesh and blood nothing else mattered, not even your own life. She sighed when he still did nothing. "Come on Daddy, save me!"

At her words his whole face exploded, a cry so raw emanating from him that Morgana would have covered her ears if it didn't mean she would fall to her death. They went rocketing up into the sky, the gale of wind almost blinding her, and soared through the air until they finally came to the only other doorway they could escape through. The only problem was that in his efforts to fly at all, James had difficulty slowing down. The two went tumbling through the doorway in an ungraceful heap, completing numerous rolls until they finally crashed into the opposing wall with loud thuds.

Morgana let a groan escape her, her whole body feeling like she had been beaten to death by Camelot's entire army. But however much she hurt she knew it was better than roasting alive amidst the flames of the lake of fire. With shaky determination she rose to her feet, trying her best to ignore the burning grazes on her arms and legs, and finally began looking around for the sorcerer prince.

But when she spotted him, lying motionless on the ground, her own concerns became a second priority. She rushed over to his broken form, silently praying that he was still breathing, and gently rolled him onto his back. Relief poured out from every pore in her body when she noticed his chest rising and falling, meaning the immortal was still managing to hold on by a thread.

"Oh thank God," she exhaled, letting her own head hang as the tension left her body.

"Yeah…" James croaked out, his skin vibrating. "Let's thank God. Which shattered bone shall I thank him for first?"

A small, albeit weak laugh escaped her as she gently patted him on the shoulder. "We'll be alright."

"If you say so," he groused, trying to move and wincing as a terrible pain shot through him. "But Blue, don't ever call me Daddy again. Major creepiness."

She couldn't help but grin, giving her head a good natured shake. "Don't worry. Never again," she assured him, truly meaning every word. "How much of what just happened was real?"

He grinned that manic grin, the one she associated with him. "I have no idea," he laughed. "Isn't that great? Damn I love this dungeon. I may just have babies with it."

"I think you've had enough babies, don't you?" She joked back, slumping against the wall in her exhaustion and not paying any attention to him bouncing his eyebrows as a response. "So now what?"

He sighed. "Well, considering I can't feel any portion of my body, I'm alright with staying here for a bit and starving to death. Thoughts? Comments?"

"I highly doubt anyone has ever agreed with you more," she stated, letting her eyes flutter closed…and therefore didn't notice two of the three sisters of fate appear before her.

James' eyes snapped open. "Morgana!" He cried, somehow finding the strength to bolt upright onto his feet, only to have Clotho slam him against the wall.

Morgana immediately opened her own eyes just in time to see Lachesis seize her by the throat. She tried to gasp but found her airway closed, and desperately began thrashing in vain in the Goddesses grasp. She was choking. Choking on her own fluids. Helplessness consumed her.

"Get your hands off of her!" James commanded, doing some helpless thrashing off his own. "Lach – AH!" He was interrupted by the whole room suddenly lighting up a deep red, the walls surrounding them morphing from bricks to Jacinth crystals. He convulsed in Clotho's impenetrable grip, utterly lost in the rapturous torture overwhelming every atom in his body.

"You should consider yourselves fortunate that our hands remain tied," Lachesis hissed at the choking Morgana in her grasp, bringing her free hand up and slamming it down on her writhing captives forehead. "Were it up to us we would end your naïve existence, but we will have to settle for breaking your heart instead."

A mighty golden ray of light poured from her hand and swarmed over Morgana's writhing form, the light quickly becoming brighter and brighter. James could only watch on helplessly as Morgana's shrill smothered his own cries of pain, barely able to breathe never mind move. "No…" he wheezed out, before passing into the world of unconsciousness as the pain became too much.

Clotho sent him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry," she said gently, fully aware he could no longer hear her, and moved her troubled gaze over to her sister. "That is enough sister! The work is done! Release Le Fay!"

"Thanks to them our sister can now no longer leave the underworld," Lachesis condemned. "She will have to conduct her work from the darkness below. They must pay for that."

"They have suffered enough!" She demanded. "Now release Le Fay before you break our fathers' rules."

The two Goddesses shared a long look, each trying to out-last the other, until Lachesis turned back to a still screaming Morgana. "Just a bit longer."

"Sister!" Clotho cried, dropping the unconscious James to the ground to stand by her.

"I won't kill her, merely make her know how I easily could," Lachesis seethed.

But that was when it happened.

A bright white light burst into the glowing red and gold dungeon, the shadow of a man storming in. Both Goddesses immediately craned their necks to see Mars coming to a skidding halt, his ice-blue eyes surveying the area and realising everything that had happened within seconds. Lachesis jerked away from a screaming Morgana, letting the convulsing woman plummet onto the hard ground.

"The Saviour," Lachesis breathed, colourless eyes wide with alarm.

"The sentient power," Clotho added, mirroring her sisters' fear.

Mars expression of realisation switched into one of rage as he brought his hands up on either side of him. The Jacinth crystals shattered almost instantly, the fragmenting sound echoing in the dungeon corridor, but his eyes remained fixed on the sisters before him.

"Is that my grandmother?" He demanded, his voice dangerous, but when all he received were awed stares his patience snapped. He charged toward them, moving faster than the human eye could see, and snatched the two up by the throat. "Is that my grandmother you were torturing!?" He yelled, teeth shuddering in his rage.

"It is," Clotho finally answered. "Now release us child."

Mars' eyes seemed to explode in his fury, but with little care dropped them on their rears and stood over them. The Goddesses gawked up at the boy, hardly believing their eternal eyes, the silence building until they could take it no longer. "I banish you from this realm," He abruptly commanded. "Lachesis and Clotho."

The sisters of fate shared a glance, clearly stunned by what was happening, before vanishing into thin air. Mars wasted no time. He rushed over to his grandmothers' still quaking form, cradling her juddering head in his hands. "Morgana?" He asked gently, his expression now a mixture of gentle concern and affection. "That's your name isn't it? Morgana? Mother of Imogen Pendragon?"

So far her eyes had been wondering around the room in a daze, but at the mention of Imi they snapped onto the boy in question. She blinked repeatedly, clearly finding it hard to focus, but managed to bring a quaking hand up to cup his cheek. "James?" She questioned, wheezing more than talking.

A grin erupted on his face, the base of his eyes gathering moisture. "No, no I'm not James," he whispered gently, swallowing down his heartache at the question. "I haven't had that pleasure yet, but I've been told there's a resemblance," he added, earning her frown of confusion. Her mind couldn't process what was happening at the moment. Her body was still burning with the thundering pain unleashed by Lachesis.

"Who…?" She began but couldn't finish, having to wince.

"It doesn't matter who I am right now. What matters is getting you out of here," he answered her unfinished question, before looking over at a still unconscious James a few feet away. "Who's he? Is he a friend of yours?"

Morgana fought to look in the sorcerer prince's direction, the sight only making her scowl harder, before finding the strength to look back up at the waiting Mars. "Yes," she croaked out. "He's…my friend."

Michael nodded, his expression turning serious. "Then I'll save you both," he concluded, rising to his feet and moving over to James's position. Without sparing the other man a glance he picked him up and slung him over his shoulder, proceeding to do the same with his Grandmother – although taking far more care with her. "Don't worry, this dungeon can't hold me," he assured the heavily breathing Morgana…before blasting into the air and through the so called indestructible walls.

* * *

Mordred paced back and forth, his hands tied behind his back. Morgause was still glancing at the spot Michael had so easily entered into the dungeon through in bewilderment. Anna was sitting on the floor, wringing her hands in silent worry, and Gwaine sat next to her spinning his sword. The knight of Camelot had refused to leave to young princesses side since Michael had left, claiming that he didn't trust her safety with anyone else until either James or Morgana showed up.

Anna released a low growl of frustration. "What's taking so long?" She demanded, shooting to her feet.

"What's taking so long?" Morgause whirled on her, shocked by the question. "I don't know who that young man was, but there was no way he should have been able to get in never mind get out. It's impossible."

Anna shot the blonde a patronising smile. "My brother says impossible is just a word used by people with limited imagination."

"Well, the usual rules don't apply to your brother, do they?" Morgause sent back, earning herself a roll of her eyes from the young girl.

"Nor does humility," Gwaine piped up with a small smile, and in spite of himself Mordred snorted behind him.

Anna shook her head. "Why would that woman sacrifice herself for me? I didn't even know her."

"In my experience, Morgana will do whatever she thinks is right in the moment," Mordred answered, coming to stand next to the girl. "I don't think she really considers the consequences."

Gwaine let a chuckle escape him. "Amen to that."

"It's called being impulsive," Morgause added, clearly annoyed. "And she should know better by now-"

The sudden explosion erupting from the top of the dungeon cut her off before she could further slate her impetuous sister, the eruption soon followed by Michael soaring out into the open air. The four all craned their necks back and marvelled as the boy came to a steady halt in mid-air, a body over each shoulder, before gracefully levitating down to land in front of them.

"That's…not possible," Morgause marvelled at the scene occurring before her very eyes, hardly daring to believe it. But it was when he gently placed the two bodies on the floor that her already baffled gaze turned epic. "Is that…?"

Anna's eyes bolted open. "Daddy!" She screamed before she could stop herself, exercising the nickname she only ever used in dire consequences, and charged over to the sorcerer prince's unconscious form. "What happened? What's wrong with him?" She demanded of the squatting Mars, on the verge of breaking down in hysterics.

"Later," Michael answered, distracted by his still writhing Grandmother below, and placed his hands on the black haired beauties stomach.

"What are you doing?" Gwaine demanded, clearly concerned that this stranger was anywhere near the lady of Camelot.

"I'm healing her, got a problem with that?" He hissed up at the knight, and turned his attention back to the woman in question. Soon a warm golden glow poured out from underneath his hands and engulfed her, just as Anna had seen James do many times, until it finally receded back into his hands.

Morgana bolted upright into a sitting position with an almighty gasp, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as her aching lungs would allow. "James – Jacinth – sisters of fate – they were killing him – killing me-"

"Morgana, calm down!" Morgause appeared at her side, fussing over her feverish sister in vain attempts to soothe the other woman.

Morgana fiercely grabbed the blonde by her shoulders, so lost to her fever that she didn't notice Mars move over to heal the immortal. "No! No the sisters of fate! They had us and there was nothing we could do – but then there was this bright white light and a boy – a young boy – he looked just like him! Just like James only…only younger – he asked about Imi – he knew my baby's name and he…he…" That was when she couldn't hold back any more. She broke down amidst a wail of tears, clutching onto her sister and burying her sodden face in the blonde's shoulder.

Morgause brought her arms up to encircle the shivering woman, only able to imagine the horrors turf had inflicted upon one of her own. Gwaine and Mordred shared a look of equal astonishment, bewildered by the uncharacteristic break down from the usually strong woman. What on earth had happened in there?

A foot away James abruptly bolted up himself, gasping for breath in identical fashion to Morgana before him and batting away Mars' healing hands in a frenzy. Anna recoiled from his gyrating form, her young eyes now producing multiple tears at his own uncharacteristic behaviour. "What!? Mirror worlds - where am I!? Where's Morgana!?"

Anna moved cautiously toward him, her whole body trembling. "You're alright," She breathed, earning his immediate attention.

He stared at her in clear disbelief, not understanding her presence there. "How…?" He squawked out, but the watery smile of his girl seemed to calm him quicker than any explanation could. "Oh…Oh I'm sorry princess – come here," he ordered gently, but soon realised he didn't have to.

Anna leapt into his arms, forcing him to go tumbling backwards onto the surprisingly hard ground. "You came," she cried, her words muffled slightly by his shirt, and squeezed him with all her strength. "I knew you'd come," she added, before getting back up on her feet and ruthlessly kicking him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He yelped, throwing her a dangerous look. "What the hell, squirt?"

She pointed a stern finger at him. "YOU left me!" She yelled at him. "You left me with people I don't even like! You didn't say goodbye, you just disappeared, and you WILL pay for that," She threatened, continuing when he opened his mouth to reply. "No, you're not leaving again." He shot her a strange look and opened his mouth once more. "I don't care how important the reasons are," she cut in again. He recoiled somewhat. How was she doing this? Unless… "And no I can't read minds, I just know you," She pre-empted yet again. "Probably too well."

"You can't know everything I'm going to say," he mocked the girl. "No one can know someone that well."

She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "If you say so."

"Oh I do," He responded, but his smug smile was wiped from his face when she said it simultaneously with him. He narrowed his eyes at her. "How'd you do that?" They both asked at the same time. "How are you doing this?...This is stupid…Anna…Gwaine has a tiny ding dong…I love cheese – but hate badgers…banana salad with tiny mushrooms made from silk-"

"Stop it! Ok! Just stop it!" James reprimanded, shifting uncomfortably. "You're freaking me out. That last one didn't even make any sense – I'm not sure that's even plausible."

"Gwaine has a tiny ding dong?" Gwaine asked in a small, hurt voice. "Why even go there?"

James sent him a disdainful look, before focusing back on Anna. "Look, Anna, this thing I have to do is important for reasons I can't reveal just yet, and I have to get back to it as soon as I can. You're just going to have to trust me. I can understand if you don't want to stay with Morgause and Mordred – they're horrible people-"

"I beg your pardon?" Morgause asked, offended.

"-But you can stay with Morgana in Camelot," James carried on, ignoring the blonde entirely. "I think you'll be happy there."

Anna looked over at a by now calmer Morgana, who like everyone else was watching them. Her emerald eyes bounced around a bit as indecision flooded through her. Part of her wouldn't mind spending time with the woman who had sacrificed her life for her, but she wasn't prepared to let the man who had raised her disappear again either.

"It would be my pleasure," Morgana added, earning a reluctant smile from the girl.

"I'll go if you come with me," The princess finally decided.

James hung his head. "Anna-"

"Do you love me?" The girl interrupted, her emerald gaze locking with his identical one.

He found himself unable to look away from her, as if the question had trapped him more expertly than turf ever could. A heavy sigh passed through his nose. "More than anything or anyone that has ever existed," he answered truthfully.

"Then you won't leave me again," she stated, as if making the decision for him. "Please? I need you. Borin will be looking for us and I'm really scared, and I need the one person in this world I know will do anything for me," she pleaded this time, her bottom lip starting to shake as her eyes flooded with tears. The sight clearly broke the prince's heart. "Please…Daddy?"

James twitched at the nickname, for so many reasons finding it the most powerful words out of his girls' mouth. His head jiggled on his neck as he tried to fight against it, against the name he so loved, but knew he was powerless to do so. "Mordred, fetch the horses. We're going to Camelot," he relented with a sigh. His reward was Anna's genuine smile, the small action worth so much more than a mountain made out of solid gold to him.

"You're such a softie," Anna teased, pushing his shoulder and relishing in the fury that grew on his face.

"Don't push it," he warned, but was unable to hide the small smirk at the same time, before rising to his feet and looking round. It was then that he noticed Michael watching them silently, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who's the kid?" He asked the group as a whole.

"He's the one who pulled us from turf," Morgana answered, getting to her feet with the assistance of Gwaine.

"Pulled us from turf?" James repeated with some scepticism, waiting for the black haired beauty to nod before focusing on Mars. The sorcerer prince slowly strode up to the boy, eyes narrowed. "Seems…unlikely."

Mars smirked. "As unlikely as you being that girls' father?" He shot back, forcing James and Morgana's eyes to bolt open in their panic.

Anna knit her brow together, her forehead wrinkling. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Who are you?" James demanded, eyes alive with danger, and simultaneously avoiding Anna's question.

"I'm the one who saved you," Michael shot back with equal intensity, clearly unfazed by the usually daunting immortal. "And only then because Morgana told me to, so don't make me throw you back in," Mars seethed right back, unaware of how everyone was examining the resemblance between the two. "Who are you?"

James glared death at the boy, stepping right up to him and invading his personal space. "My name is James Regus," He stated. Michael's hard features melted into one of incredulity instantly, his once crossed arms dropping in his utter astonishment.

"You're…" Mars stuttered, realising for the first time that he was standing before the very man he had imagined his entire life. "You're…James Regus?"

"Indeed I am, tulip," James retorted. "And now you've gone and gotten on my bad side. So since that's out of the way, who the hell are you?"

* * *

Phew! And there we are. That took forever to write, and I'm not even that pleased with it, but I don't care anymore because now I've done those first three chapters I can start having fun writing again. These first three were just necessary ramifications leftover from "The Reasons for Treason", now it can have its own identity.

So in the next chapter: We find out what the fates actually did to Morgana; Bella and Imi aren't doing well at all and things get a little intense. You'll see what I mean.

Booya, because I say that now.


	4. The Pirates of Fate

Ok! So, yes, I am finally back. My sincere apologies for the wait, but I won't make excuses for it as they won't make any difference to you. They would be true but you wouldn't believe them anyway. Trust me, I'm a psychologist :P However I have been working very hard on this story, and I've already written most of the next two chapters. The next one will be basically all comedy, which for some reason in my head gives me license to make this one even more dramatic. I really hope you haven't forgotten how bad a person I am, because I'm about to put you through hell! Ha!

Also my friend once more wants me to post one of her reviews at the top of this chapter, and yes it is the same one as before (my friend outside of this website). Remember this person is a bit of a nutcase, and kind of a media whore. But let's just get this over with:

**Sylar Queen: ****I know from what you've written in your little chapter plan book at home that there's more great stuff coming and I can't wait for people to see it. For anyone reading these reviews, from chapter five onwards things are going to get insanely good, and the next chapter is still the best by far. Chapter 4 is probably even better than the best of Reasons for treason so that should give you some idea of how good they will be from chapter 5 and beyond.****Post this at the top of your next chapter again would you? I want people to know what they have to look forward to. Cheers me dears.**

So there she is. Quite pleasant actually. Will I delete what I put at the top now? I think not.

Now this chapter is what I call one of my character chapters, which is basically where I focus on one particular character in order to integrate them into the story. In this case, it's all about Michael. Since he's the new boy I felt it necessary for people to both learn more about him and yet somehow confuse them further. Most importantly I want people to see that he is essentially two people wrapped up into one, and he jumps between them quite frequently. On one hand he's a bit of a baby, scared by what he is and what he can do, and on the other hand he's this incredible force of nature and aware that nothing can stop him. Also I wanted him to form a bit of a bond with James, and prove his worth to this story and the group. That's basically where the idea for this chapter came from.

Now you guys have been wonderful in your reviews and your patience, one of you even asking me out on a date lol and you all deserve to be rewarded for that. Unfortunately I can't sleep with you, so I will just answer your reviews instead. A shame? Yes. Yes it is, but we'll persevere. So then! Onto your wonderful reviews! Now Mergana; Max; Firstm8ofjumpinjill; DoctorWhoFreakah; Spuffy4Eva; Guesswho; Petrelliboy; Halo; ColdbladeFan No.1; Heroes; Lurveheroes4eva; kingleycrab and Vwho – I believe we have a P.M agreement where I reply to you, you guessed it, via P.M's. If that's still ok let me know.

**Chase:** Holy shit indeed! :P See? I can say it and yet u can't in a review. Rules suck my friend. Please feel free to swear in the future as I believe it is a fantastical way to express yourself…and give society an ironic middle finger. I love irony, don't you? Anyway first things first, thank you so much for your review. I'm glad you could see how those three chapters were the necessary ones, and to an extent so is this one, only this one is far more intense. Hopefully you'll like it and, again, thanks so much for your kind words and for taking the time to review. It really honest to God means so much to me that I can't even explain it, so thank you.

**MerganaLover: **Lol, thank you for your jargon/rubbish on account of not being able to find the words to praise me, and I am also sorry for keeping you waiting. I did kinda get stabbed in the chest if that helps? But onto other things, nicer things, such as your review…and maybe puppies? Nah your review is all I need. I STILL don't like that last chapter. It was slow and boring and nowhere near what I can normally do. That's why I made this chapter as fast and as exciting as I could, and I hope you think so too. I quite enjoyed the writing the Morgana/James bit but that's only because she's more like the stern mother to his badly behaved child, so I could make a lot of jokes at least. It's the emotional stuff I find hard. Gwen/Bella/Uther wasn't too bad I guess, but they were really only there as spectators. Yes Michael is indeed powerful, and you'll realise how powerful a bit more in this chapter. However let's just say that there is a chapter coming in the future where you will see how much he's been holding back on us. Oh I have ideas for him. Anyways thank you, as always, so so so much or your review and I really hope you enjoy this one. It can be a little confusing so I hope people can keep up with it, but other than that I think it's alright. Again not of my best but we're getting to them. Thanks again.

**Angharad-Emrys-Potter-W7****: **Hello! And thank you. Interesting name by the way. What does Angharad mean just out of curiosity? And you want to know why James calls Morgana blue? It's a nick name he gave because of the colour of her eyes. I know some people think their green or whatever but I've always thought there were ice-blue, so there we are. Anyways thanks so much for taking the time to review as each one makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile here, so thank you.

**Dawn Ruthless:** Hello again! Lol glad I made you giggle in my last review response to you. Although no you should not be reading and laughing to this in class! Shame on you! Are you doing it right now? Because class is where fun goes to die, I think what you're doing is illegal :P Nah hope it helps you get through the boredom. Killing off a main character is hard. The way I think about it is which character will I least need, and once I've decided I make sure that they have a strong connection to at least one other character _just _ to make it that little bit more sad :P I know, evil genius right? Maybe just the evil part. Ah you liked the "Gwaine has a tiny ding dong" bit? It does seem to have been popular, but I think I have funnier James/Gwaine moments in this episode. I'm very curious to see what you guys think about that, as me thinking it's funny doesn't make it so. That cat isn't quite out of the bag about James being Anna's father quite yet, but believe me it's coming, and I have some major plot ideas for that as well. If you enjoy the funny chapters then I'd look forward to the next chapter after this, chapter five, as I just felt like going a bit crazy with the comedy. I really hope it's funny lol otherwise the whole chapter is just a waste and a failure. However this one is a bit more dramatic, with a few humorous bits thrown in, but way more intense. I hope you'll like it too. Thanks again for another brilliant review, and please know that every one of them has validated all the effort I've put in towards it. It's because of brilliant people like you who take the time to review that I'm still writing, so thank you so much.

**Motherearth02:** Hey hey! There you are, I hope all is ok? Lol and you're very welcome for the happy birthday by the way. In fact it was the least I could do after backing out on you at the beginning of our P.M treatment. I just got so busy and then I got stabbed and wasn't able to even sit up at my computer, but I am sorry. Please feel free to P.M me again either about the stories or for personal reasons. Now onto your review…and yeah, yeah sorry about the ending of the last one, and the wait for this chapter. I do kinda enjoy ripping people's hearts out yes, but I don't eat them! That would be sick! I feed them to the poor and hungry :P charitably evil I think they call it nowadays. Yeah the void sucked huh? Even the vegetation was violent, and glad you noticed the characteristics of James in Mars. I really wanted to get that across, so thank you. You liked the Hell appearing in the dungeon? Cool :D My philosophy is why the hell not? I love imagination, but hate it when people put restrictions on it. That's the point of imagination! It doesn't have restrictions! I'll get off my soap box now…which ironically isn't very clean. Yeah I always enjoy writing James/Morgana stuff. They're two characters that are both incredibly different, and yet similar in so many ways. It's such a rare combination to have. Whether it will turn into more or not is just part of the journey of the story. I like James and Morgana together but let's not forget I am a Mergana shipper, so I guess we'll see. So to sum up, though it will not be as epic as yours, thank you for yet another review and feel free to get in contact with me.

**MaryandMerlin:** Hey-lo! See what I did there? So nice to hear from you again, and by the way, no need to apologise for not reviewing straight away. Look how long it's taken me to update? I'm fairly certain there are people out there who want to kill me (I'm thinking trident to the head), so really no need to apologise. Lol I know, I know, I ended it with a cliff hanger…again. I think it's the only way I can do it. Otherwise I'll just start writing and never stop! This one should be a bit more to your liking though, or at least I hope. You tell me :P Lol you think I didn't end on Mars telling James he was his son because I'm not going to tell him? Oh you are good. Seriously you are good, you think exactly the same way I think…but because of that am I prepared for you? Hmmm. Read and find out. That link didn't work for the snake monster, but if you're interested I can tell you where I got the idea? The only thing is if I do it might be a bit of a spoiler, so let me know if you want to know. Good that you wondered if James really looked that good or if Morgana just saw him that way, because that's EXACTLY what I wanted people to wonder. I'm kinda toying with people's heads and you are noticing everything, like all of it. I'm actually impressed. How does James's mind reading work? Well I've been writing it like he can read whatever is at the forefront of their minds at the time, but no further. Whereas with Michael he can read all of it like he did with Merlin in the void. Lol don't apologise for asking questions. That's what reviews and these responses are for, and I applaud you're effort for trying to figure out what's going on so I don't pull the wool over your eyes like last time…having said that you will not be able to lol I've made damn sure that it's both obvious and yet impossible to figure out. I even give you some of what's to come right at the end of this chapter and I promise you, you still won't be able to tell. One of my very few talents is knowing how people think, how they'll react, what they will and will not pay attention to and what can distract their attention. It's my job in real life after all, and believe me that is the only time I will admit to having any kind of positive quality lol because in reality I'm an idiot. Lol it looks like The Doctor has spawned Sherlock with James and Michael :P funny you should say as my nick name again in real life is Sherlock, and I absolutely love the BBC version. Really clever writing. Yes, yes you can come and live inside my imagination, although I must warn you it's pretty crowded in there with all the imaginary sandwiches which have yet to be invented and ways to maim the tory/republican parties. Pretty gruesome, I don't hold back. Veritas! Yes! Veritas was the roman goddess of truth, and that was always going to be her destiny. To be honest that's the main reason James lies so often, because can you imagine the amount of stuff I can write about now? A virtual living lie detector in love with someone who lies so often? Oh I got mountains worth now. Mars? Yeah Mars is the roman God of war, and I'm sure you can see why the inmates in the void called him that. I even view them as two different people. Michael is the fifteen year old, slightly babyish teenage boy, whereas Mars is benevolent force of nature. I can safely say there are no aliens in this story lol the characters are not aliens and there will be no aliens. Though yes Jacinth is sort of like kryptonite with the Regus' (barring Michael) because they needed something that can stop them on account of their immortality and stuff. Plus I needed James to have something to make him vulnerable, and it will be coming back later on in the story. Yes I do everything for a reason in these stories, even right down to the names of my O.C's. Oh god no, Anna and Michael will not – repeat NOT be getting together. Their not step brother and sister they are half-brother and sister, and that's way too far for me. Yeah I wanted more dragons :P So I used the void to get some more. And I know Imi should have seen that Michael would have been transported to his father rather than Camelot, but she was under stress bless her lol Yes family CoLdBlAdE are fine and still pestering me every chance they get, believe me. Ok then! Well thanks so so so so so so much for yet another review. Yours are always so great to read and make me want to keep going with this story, so thank you so much.

**Sotia:** Heeeey yourself. Although Sotia is a Greek name I believe so Kala? Tikanes? Elferesdo for you wonderful words, and also for your…comments lol It's very nice of you to say that about me having a good sense of humour and I'm very flattered by your offer. I am however engaged and a new parent so thank you, but I'm taken. Thank you also for your P.M's suggesting that we meet, but again I'm taken. I still appreciate your interest in both me and this story :P and hope that you enjoy this one as well. Thanks again.

**Renaissancebooklover108****: **Hey Hey! Thanks for leaving a review. Mars reminds you of Sherlock? Well that's cool. I guess he does identify with people like that and does work things out by studying them, and you're right so does James. That's the only reason mars does it as well, because James has done it for ages. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks so much for taking the time to review.

**Agirlgeek144: **A truly attractive name before I start by the way. I've always had a thing for girl geeks, but enough creepiness, onto your review. Oh glad you liked the reasons for treason and also glad you like what you've read so far, even though in my head I have yet to make it anywhere near as good. This chapter is the beginning of that though, so we're getting there. Lol Why doesn't the TV show have James in it? I have no idea. God knows I would have died from delight, so maybe they didn't wanna be accused of murder – I don't know. Your question is am I ever going to have a quest with Merlin and Arthur like in the show? Maybe with James as well? Um…I can say that it's possible, and though I haven't written it yet I too always liked those episodes, so sure I can do it. I'm not sure if James will be involved but we'll see how it goes. If I can I will, I promise. Anyways thank you so much for your review. It was bursting with inspiration, so sincerely thank you.

**Guest:** Lol yeah, making your Dad mad isn't the brightest idea. Especially if your dad is James, but we live and learn. Yeah Gwaine has a tiny ding dong seems to have been very popular lol I'll have to remember that. There are some more James/Gwaine moments in this one so hope you enjoy them too, and seriously thanks for your review. It means the world to me.

Phew! Ok! So, now there done I shall do the disclaimer and then we shall begin!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of its characters; they say that Gandalf is Merlin's retarded gay niece…from Holland; I once pooped on a birds' head just to see if it really does send you into another dimension; and I say to all those people who don't believe God can be a woman to ask themselves why men have nipples as it sounds like a big cosmic joke to me.**

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4 – The Pirates of Fate

Merlin was smiling like an idiot, this he was aware of. Mainly because Arthur had reminded him three times in the last three seconds, but he liked to think he would have figured it out anyway. Bella remained in his arms, the side of her head resting on his shoulder, whilst Imi stood before them with that ever strange look on her face. His two daughters were _finally _meeting. The two things he loved most in this world face to face at last. The only thing missing was Morgana.

"It's nice to meet you, Isabella," Imi was the first to speak, holding out her hand for the little girl to shake. The one thing she had hated most whilst growing up was being treated like a little girl. She would not make the same mistake.

Bella, on the other hand, seemed sceptical. "Who are you?" She asked in a small voice, nestling closer to her father as she did.

"An excellent question," Uther threw in, glaring at the girl from his position next to Arthur.

"This is your sister, Bella," Merlin answered, surprising both Bella and Uther. "She's been away for a long time, but now she's back. Her name's Imogen," he further explained, nodding towards Imi's outstretched hand. "It's alright, you can take her hand. She's family."

Bella redirected her wide eyes away from her father and onto her sister, before eventually smiling. "I have a sister?" She asked in awe. She had _always _wanted a sister.

Imi smiled as well, unaware of Uthers' eyes examining her every move. "Sister?" The former king asked, just as Bella reached out with her little hand to grasp Imi's. "But…how is that possible?"

"It's a long story, father," Arthur explained. "We'll tell you all about it once we-"

The king of Camelot was suddenly interrupted by a large booming noise erupting upon the meeting of Imi and Bella's hands. Imi went soaring back, lifting ten feet in the air before slamming into the wall and falling unconscious on the ground. The same thing happened with Bella and Merlin. The two flew back, only there was no wall to stop them. The young warlock landed hard on his back, wrapping his arms tighter around an unconscious Bella as he did, and eventually came to a skidding halt just as Gaius walked in.

"Merlin!" The physician cried, unsure if he was scolding his ward or concerned for him.

Arthur and Gwen, perplexed by the sudden violent event, could only run and check on Imi to see if she was alright. Uther and Gaius done the same for Bella and Merlin, but both Imi and Bella appeared to be lost to their unconsciousness.

"Bella!" Merlin exclaimed, his panic levels rising. "Gaius what happened? What's wrong with her?"

Gaius shook his head in fervent worry. "I don't know."

"It was the girl, Imogen," Uther proclaimed. "When they touched something happened."

At this Merlin grew even more alarmed. "Arthur!" He called desperately.

"Imi's unconscious as well," The king answered his advisors unspoken question. "Whatever happened, it happened to both of them."

Merlin was lost. He hadn't seen this coming at all, and what's worse is that he had no idea what had happened. He could feel the beginnings of sweat form on his forehead, threatening to trickle down his pale features at any moment. "Gaius…Gaius, please do something," he begged of his mentor, eyeing him in his desperation.

The elderly physician recognised the despair in his adopted son's voice, but needed no such encouragement. "We must get them down to my chambers immediately. If I can do something, then it will be there."

Merlin nodded, still feeling overwhelmed and handed little Bella's limp form to Uther…just as the windows decided to shatter. Everyone spun away from the fragmented glass, Uther almost dropping the small girl in his arms as he did, before they all noticed Mars landing in the middle of the throne room with Morgana in his arms.

Needless to say they were a tad stunned.

"Who the-?" Uther began, eyes alive with disbelief. "Morgana?" He realised with some dread.

Michael put his grandmother down and rushed over to his Mother, leaving the black haired beauty to notice a limp Bella in Uther's arms first. Her eyes flooded with horror. "Bella?" She whispered, before charging over to her youngest. "Bella! Bella sweetheart – wake up!" She screamed, already lost to her fever, and sent Merlin a desperate stare. "Merlin what happened!? Is she harmed!?"

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know," he answered, his tone weak and exhausted. "Everything was fine until Bella grabbed Imi's hand and then-"

"Imi?" She interrupted him, eyes terrified. "Where is she, Merlin? Where's my girl?"

Michael pulled open his Mothers' eyes, only to see the usually focused ice-blue orbs lucid and unclear. "Oh no, no no NO!" He yelled, causing both Arthur and Gwen to jolt back in surprise. The King especially knew what the boy was capable of, so the possibility of a wrathful Mars positively chilled him to the bone. In fact he challenged anyone not to be fearful of the boy.

"Who are you?" Gwen queried gently, almost as if she sensed the danger of being close to him right now.

"This is Michael," Arthur explained quietly, earning his wife's attention. "Imi and James' son. The one that went missing when we came back from the void."

Gwen turned her baffled gaze to examine Michael's animated features, only for it to boggle even more. "Sweet lord…he looks just like-"

"We know," Arthur interrupted, having heard of the remarkable resemblance between James and Michael enough already.

"IMI!" Morgana suddenly arrived on the scene, the woman plummeting to her knees amidst a whirlwind of panic. "Oh! Oh my baby…she's really here. She's really back," she whispered the latter to herself, her hands cupping her daughter's clammy cheeks as she buried her face in Imi's hair. She sniffed the lightly frazzled black locks, bathing in the smell of her daughter after four years of waiting.

"Michael," Merlin called, instantly receiving his Grandsons attention. "What happened? What can we do?"

Mars turned his attention back on to his mother, this time taking her pulse. His eyes clouded over in his distress. "The spell that connected Mum and Bella – the one that helped her escape - has turned on them and is now poisoning their blood. James would have disarmed it before they met but he didn't know she was coming back, and judging by my mother's pulse we don't have long before they leave us forever."

Merlin's eyes physically withdrew into his skull at the news. This was his fault. All of it. He hadn't told James what he was doing; he had made his two girls shake hands. How did this happen? He was so happy about five seconds ago. "How long?" He demanded.

Mars took a deep breath, clearly steadying himself. "They should both be dead already."

"What!?" The warlock cried, outraged. "No, no there _has _to be a way to stop this. It can't end like this, not after everything we've done. What do we do?"

Michael shook his head, feeling an overwhelming sense of helplessness. "I don't know," he finally whispered. "I don't know what to do; it's too specific a spell."

"But I thought you knew everything," Merlin panicked, grabbing at his hair. "Like your father – you said you got his brain."

Mars shot him a warning look. "I know people, not spells. Everything I do comes naturally. I didn't have to learn it like he did."

Merlin felt like being sick. His girls, his beautiful baby girls were dying and the most intelligent voice in the room had just said he didn't know what to do.

"Please," Morgana's shredded plea earned his attention, he only able to watch as tears prickled at her eyes before placing her forehead on Imi's. "Please don't leave me again."

"Gaius, there has to be something you can do," Arthur tried in his own desperation.

The elderly physician seemed lost. "I'm sorry sire, but I haven't the first clue about what to do. It is as the boy said, the spell is too specific. I am most dreadfully sorry, but it would take a miracle to save them."

At his words Merlin's eyes snapped open, his awakened gaze firing up to meet Morgana's. Neither had to say anything. Her hand feverishly shot up and began searching for the thing she knew could save her girls, until finally she latched onto James's chain around her neck. "James! James we need you! NOW!"

* * *

Earlier that day…

"Well?" James demanded of the young, seemingly startled Michael standing before him. The boy had just been standing there, gaping, at his unsuspecting father with eyes larger than the sun since he had been asked who he was. "Are you going to tell us who you are or stand there with your mouth wider than Gwaine's when he's in the tavern?"

Gwaine simply sent him a bored look. "I haven't missed you."

James snapped his fingers in the knight's direction. "It's wrong to lie, Gwaine."

"Alright," Gwaine sighed, defeated. "Maybe a little."

"As I thought," James smirked. "You're looking great by the way."

Gwaine shook his head, embarrassed. "Must be all Arthur's training. He's kind of intense."

"Yeah, sorry. It runs in the family," James confessed. "How is my cousin anyway? Still a moron shaped like an idiot?"

Gwaine pursed his lips in thought. "More like a royal shaped girl in a man's armour."

"Enough!" Morgana cried, clapping her hands together to gain the two boys' attention. "Can we save this uncomfortable little romance until later?"

James scrunched up his face. "Romance?"

"There's no romance here," Gwaine was quick to add.

"She's just jealous because her husband pays more attention to her brother than her," James threw back. "Plus she just bathed in mud, though might I say it's a substantial hygiene improvement."

Morgana threw her finger up at him. "You shut your mouth."

"No you shut yours," He fired right back at her.

Gwaine bounced his eyebrows. "I don't know about romance, but there's definitely some carnal chemistry going on here-"

"Shut up Gwaine!" Both James and Morgana screamed at him.

Michael however was watching the three catch up through soundless goggles. A single, solitary tear suddenly fell from his right eye, cascading down his lightly tanned cheek until his hand came up to swipe it away. The boy raised his fingers to examine the liquid. He had never cried before, not even as a baby. In fact his mother had told him that when he was born not a single noise escaped him, not even a small whinge.

And yet at this very moment he was fighting them back, unprepared to have his father think him weak on their first encounter. He couldn't even believe this was actually happening. The stories of this man had made him feel safe at night his entire life. Tales of danger and heroism, of determination and occasionally the odd fable of brilliance. This man was his hero, and here he was, standing before him snivelling like a new born girl. And even as he watched his hero be tackled to the ground by a furious Morgana after a comment about her waistline, he still couldn't find the strength to move.

"Gwaine! Get her off me!" James cried as the black haired beauty furiously pounded on him.

Gwaine took a shaky step back. "I'm afraid."

"Just – Ow! Blue I need my kidneys!" The prince whimpered.

Morgause and Mordred gazed on in silent bewilderment. "What am I seeing?" Morgause murmured, feeling almost overwhelmed at the sight. She had never seen the fabled fire and the rage, the almighty Thor himself act like such a childish buffoon – never mind be brutally assaulted by her younger half-sister. It was ridiculous.

Mordred shook his head. "Two dragons doesn't cover this."

"Get him in behind the knee!" Anna called out to Morgana, routing for her sister from the side.

Morgana shot her a grin. "Thank you," She acknowledged, before using her own knee to attack the prince's weak spot.

The moment she had he gasped, his features opening in pain, but still managed to send Anna a watery look. "But…I loved you," he wheezed, only earning the girls grin.

Morgana brushed her hands off in victory, climbing off of him and allowing Gwaine to help him up. "There," the black haired beauty breathed out. "Now I feel better."

"Well good for you," James hissed, and finally looked back to Michael. "Alright, now I'm in a bad mood, so heaven help you if you don't tell me who you are – Damn that hurts!"

Mars tried to swallow his fear and took a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I'm…" he began, but the words died in his throat. He had never been good at talking.

James' scowl only deepened, fire flaring into his eyes. "I suggest you spit it out," the sorcerer prince demanded, fire dancing in his emerald eyes, having his own reasons other than a bad knee for his behaviour. Not ten seconds ago this stranger had uttered the words he had been dreading for the last nine years, that he couldn't be Anna's brother but was instead her father. To make matters worse Anna had been there when they had been spoken, and right now he could feel his girls' eyes burning into his back.

"What did he mean anyway?" Anna asked softly, right on cue. James closed his eyes with his back still to her, dread seeping through his very skin. "When he said _as unlikely as you being my father_, what did he mean?"

The sorcerer prince's mind began feverishly looking for any possible answer. "Nothing princess, forget it."

"So then why would he say it?" She pushed him, as if expecting the brush off.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," he whirled on her, immediately noticing her suspicious glare. "And don't think you're off the hook for running away just yet, because we will be having a talk. Never mind telling everyone about my knee thing."

Anna scoffed at him. "_You _ran away first-"

"I'm me, Anna. I get to make decisions like that because I can always get myself out of trouble," he interrupted fiercely, causing Anna to tilt her head to the side and narrow her eyes. "And we'll talk about this later; now go sit over there until I come get you."

The eleven year old looked scandalized. "I am not a little girl anymore," she demanded in much the same tone as him.

"Well you are to me!" He retorted, perhaps revealing a little more than he had intended. He blinked back his surprise at his own words, trying to recover himself. "…Now go sit over there – I will NOT say it again."

Anna's glare was challenging and at first she didn't move, but when he refused to break his authoritative glower she slowly moved away. James breathed a sigh of relief before turning a pointed look on Morgana.

"I saw," Morgana replied, raising an eyebrow at his look. "And I think she's right."

James threw his head back in frustration. "Of course you do. If you don't mind I am busy trying to find out who this boy is! So keep the crazy women united stuff to yourself for now," He cried, turning his attention back onto a still frozen Michael. "So where were we?"

"Might I suggest showing the boy some pity, my Lord," Morgause reluctantly put forward, expecting the glare that he fired her way. "He did after all just save the life of Morgana and yourself."

"When I want your opinion, I shall ask for it," James seethed at her, causing the blonde to bow her head as a sign of respect before the immortal yet again turned his glare back onto Mars. "Now I will not ask again. Who-?"

"Enough," Morgana cut in gently, halting James' words.

The sorcerer prince looked at her as if she had gone insane. "What is it with you today? Clearly you don't understand, but this boy is something new," he suddenly sniffed the air all around them. "He even smells weird."

"I understand that he risked his life to save both of ours despite being a stranger," she shot right back at him.

James grit his teeth. "You can't see what I see, Morgana. He's…different. There's a glow about him, an essence I've never tasted before, so stop talking and let me handle this."

"I think I should handle this," Morgana stated, now walking toward the two. "And talk to me like that again, I'll cut off your head myself."

Morgause' and Mordred's eyes boggled. "Morgana," The blonde scolded, fear evident in her tone. "This is our crowned prince. You cannot speak to him like that, or attack him whenever you see fit. My Lord, please forgive her. She doesn't understand."

"I can speak to him however I wish," she rebutted confidently, before giving the fabled fire and rage a slap round the head. Both Mordred and Morgause audibly gasped in fright, whereas James merely glared death at her. "Stop being a bully," she commanded in a gentle yet authoritative voice.

"Whatever," He whispered, but stepped back to allow her room to walk nonetheless.

Mordred was stunned beyond repair. This was the most feared man in the world. There were entire kingdoms who thought of him as a God. For as long as he'd known his prince people had been too terrified to even approach him, and yet here was Morgana Pendragon treating him like a naughty child throwing a tantrum. It was absurd.

"We can slap him?" Mordred asked in a cautious murmur.

"No, I can slap him," Morgana answered him, now standing in front of Michael. "If you tried to, Mordred, it would be the worst decision of your life, believe me."

The druid gulped and chanced a brief glance at his prince. James merely smirked at him, but it sent an icy shiver up his spine. "Understood."

Morgana turned her attention back to a still dazed Michael, for some reason feeling an explosion of sympathy for the boy firing in her chest. He seemed so scared, so fixed on James that she almost slapped the immortal again for being such a brute. "Are you alright?" She asked, James recognising the tone from how she used to talk to Imi. Soft, gentle and almost lyrical. It was a mothers' voice.

Michael finally moved his troubled gaze onto her, and for some reason let out an amused puff of air. "My mother slaps me just like that," he breathed out, referring to how Morgana had just walloped James round the head.

Morgana smiled at him. "Well hopefully you were never as arrogant as he was to warrant such a blow," she joked back, earning a slightly bigger smile from the boy.

"I'm still here, you know," James moaned. "And I have feelings."

"It would take a blind, deaf and dumb man not to notice you," Morgana teased, earning herself yet another glare of death that didn't affect her in the slightest. "How did you come to be here?" She asked Mars, returning to her motherly tones.

Michael briefly glanced at James before answering. "I…I escaped from the void and ended up here."

"You escaped from the void?" Morgana demanded, suddenly very interested, and waited for him to nod before continuing. "Did you ever meet a woman by the name of Imogen Pendragon?"

Mars nodded after some reluctance, causing Morgana to seize a hold of his arm and latch herself onto it. "I know her very well," he answered.

"Is she safe?" Morgana pleaded, her voice catching and eyes alive with unshed tears. "Is she happy and safe and healthy?"

Mars nodded yet again. "Yes," he replied. Morgana released a heavy breath at his words, physically falling forwards in her utter relief. Tears now freely streamed down her face and trailed over her jubilant smile. Her girl was alive. "Imogen is alive and in Camelot at this very moment with Emrys and King Arthur, and I suspect very angry at me for wondering off."

Morgana was now looking at him with eyes wider than he had ever seen before, the black haired beauty having to hold her stomach when she could do nothing else to express her joy. Merlin had done it. He had found her and brought her back home. God in heaven did she love that man, and how she needed to get back to Camelot.

"She's back?" James asked from behind Morgana. The two looked up at him to see his usually menacing expression swept with disbelief.

Mars swallowed his fear yet again, and boldly took two steps closer to him. "Yes, she is, and all my life she has told me stories of you," he added, now the complete focus of the group. "He's like an unstoppable fire and raw with rage she used to tell me. He comes hand in hand with darkness and scares away the shadows that haunt even the greatest kings. I've spent my _entire_ life waiting to meet you."

"You're entire life?" Morgana asked, moving to stand next to a mystified James so she could see Mars face as well. "But you must be fifteen or sixteen years of age. How long has she been there?"

Michael seemed to have to suck up his courage before he spoke. "Sixteen years," he answered, trying to keep the wave of emotion out of his voice. "I'm your…your…" He tried to say it, to tell his hero that he was in fact his long lost son come from another world…but his mouth just kept moving without making a sound. He didn't know what to do with the very new fear gripping at him.

"My what?" James asked when Mars seemed incapable of continuing. "My hearts' desire? The pain in my lower butt?" He mocked, now stalking towards him. "Or perhaps the son of one of my brothers and sisters sent into the void, which would explain why we look so much alike, but though that would explain your age and appearance that doesn't explain how you know Imi."

Morgana would have scolded him, but she too wanted to know how this boy knew her Imi. Michael closed his eyes. This was _so _much harder than he had thought it would be. His mother was supposed to be here to help him, but it wasn't her fault she wasn't. It was his. "Imogen's my mother," he fired out before he could stop himself. "She gave birth to me in the void and has spent the last fifteen years protecting me. She's the best mother in the world," he added in a whisper, before he averted his eyes. "She's the best mother in every world."

At this everyone's eyebrows hit their hairline and their jaws nearly sagged to the floor. "What did you say?" Morgana wheezed out, not daring to believe her ears anymore. Her entire body was tingling with pins and needles, her fingertips numb. She must have heard wrong. She _must_ have.

Michael smiled thinly, and Morgana nearly gasped at how much it resembled Merlin's sad smile. "My name is Michael," he managed to force out, trying to ignore James' flummoxed expression. "I'm your grandson, Morgana," he choked, staring right at her.

Morgana was crying now, unable to tear her eyes from her _grandson_. Gwaine was frozen in his shock, Mordred and Morgause hadn't blinked since the revelation, and Anna (who had snuck back up to listen in) turned her bewildered gaze up to meet her brothers'.

Needless to say, she had never EVER seen him so confounded in all her life. He too had yet to blink, but his face had lost its colour and his eyes were dazed and vague. His mouth silently opened and closed, as his gaze travelled over Michael's face to examine the obvious similarity. But beyond that there was no other sign that he was even alive.

Luckily Morgana, being the more affectionate of the two, cautiously stepped towards her grandson and carefully cupped his face in her hands. She stared into his ice-blue eyes, identical to her own, and let out a strange squeaking noise. "Mine," was all she could apparently muster, but it was all Michael needed. She fiercely wrapped her arms around him and was delighted to feel him reciprocate the embrace. A small, incredulous giggle escaped her. This was insane. She was hugging a boy she had never met before and was insanely happy about it. Logically, it didn't even make sense, but here they were nonetheless.

James however still hadn't moved. In fact, he _still _hadn't even blinked. "I don't…" he breathed with a shake of his head, causing Morgana to pull away so both she and Michael could see him. "Imi found someone else?" He asked, sounding like a wounded animal. "She had a child in the void with one of my brothers?"

Morgana stared at him as if he was an idiot. "James-"

"No, it's…it's alright," James interrupted her, a false smile growing on his face. "It's fine really. I mean it's been sixteen years at least for her, it's too much to ask that she wait that long just for me."

Anna however was clearly not so understanding as she examined her brothers' look. Everything about his expression screamed devastation, something she had not seen on his face since…ever. A sudden and unpredictable rage burst in her gut, firing through the young girls' blood and burning away her better judgement.

"No it's not alright," the princess demanded with vehemence in her voice, turning angry eyes onto Morgana. "This Imogen is all he's talked about for four years, and now she's gone and found someone else? And with one of our brothers? Is she some kind of Harlot?"

"Anna!" James furiously scolded, surprised at the slur on the woman he loved from the girl he cherished. What the hell was that? Anna didn't talk to people like that. That had always been his thing, but she never had.

"My girl is not a harlot!" Morgana vaulted forwards, furious at her unknowing half-sister for daring to say such a thing. "Your brother is an idiot. If he thought about it for a second, he would realise that this boy is his-" Michael abruptly placed a hand over his furious grandmothers' mouth, stopping the revelation she was about to spew regarding who his father really was. The black haired beauty looked at the boy, ice-blue eyes baffled at his actions, but only received a shake of his head for an answer.

"She has _broken _his heart!" Anna yelled at the woman, bringing the two's attention back to her. "That man has given everything up for me for eleven years and just when he might be happy, your girl shatters his one chance in over a decade!"

"That's enough Anna," James commanded, voice dripping with authority. "Besides it's more like ten years. I didn't like you much for the first one…"

"Who was it with?" Anna ordered Michael, storming over to him and craning her neck back to look up at his bewildered features. "Which one of our brothers is your father? I want to know who she thinks is better than MY brother!"

"I command you to stop!" James barked at the young girl, earning her surprised attention. Her brother didn't command her or pull rank, and yet here he was doing it to defend a woman who had betrayed him? It just made her even more furious.

She stepped forward, chin protruding, and glared furiously up at the man who had raised her. "No," she spat with some vehemence.

Morgause growled and began angrily walking over to the girl. "Your prince just gave you an order," The blonde threatened, raising her hand to strike the girl…but was forced to stop when James's open palm appeared a hairs width away from her face.

"I know you mean well, Morgause," James voice seemed to still the sudden chaos that had erupted, his tone slow and raspy. Morgause found herself locked onto the brutally hollow gaze he had fixed on her, the stare alone enough to remind her who she was dealing with. "And I know we have become close over these past four years and that Anna just disobeyed a direct order from the prince of all that is magical…your future king no less…but if you ever raise your hand to her ever again…_ever _again…I'll kill you," he threatened in such a calm way that it left them all feeling cold inside, and not one of them doubted his word. "Anna, you'll shut up until I say you can speak, since clearly you can't control your temper."

"Says you," the young girl scoffed.

"Yes, says me. Now we need to have a talk, so go sit over there on that rock," James's voice was still eerily calm, forcing Anna to do as she was told this time. Even in spite of her reluctance. The immortal sent Morgause one last warning look before he lowered his hand, looking over to a stunned Michael. "Whoever your father is, he's a lucky man. Take Morgana to Camelot, me and Anna will join you soon. Morgause and Mordred, you two go enjoy some time off until I call upon you. Gwaine, I need you to do me a favour," And with that, the sorcerer prince threw an arm around Gwaine's shoulders and walked off in the direction of an impatient Anna.

Morgana watched him go with a bewildered expression melted onto her face. What had just happened? Michael was obviously James's son, and not just because she knew Imi had been pregnant before she had jumped into the void. The resemblance was uncanny. Why had the smartest man in the world not seen it?

Morgause turned to Morgana. "I hope to see you soon, sister. Maybe in time we will learn to trust one another," The black haired beauty said nothing, but watched as the blonde took her leave with Mordred. She did however grant the druid a small smile as he left before turning to Michael.

"I'm correct in assuming James is your father?" She whispered to him, sighing when the boy nodded his approval. "Then why not tell him? He's a good man and this hurts him, why didn't you correct him?"

Michael merely continued to stare at her, his gaze vague. "Because I don't want him to feel obligated to love me," he answered in a small voice, turning his stare away from his grandmother and watching as James laid a gentle hand on Anna's head in the distance. "He would die, kill and suffer for Anna. He'd even kill you for her, I can feel it. I want him to love me like he loves her, not to lie to himself or me because he feels like he should."

Morgana sent him a strange look. "He loves her more than anything, yes, but he would never kill me. I'm not sure he could even hurt me."

"Yes he would," Mars deadpanned, his no nonsense gaze returning to her, and forcing her to believe his words. "He would burn you all until you were nothing but dust in the wind if it came to you or her. Do not doubt that."

She shook her head, choosing to ignore that little bit of information. "So why can't he work it out? He's the smartest person I know, why can't he figure out who you really are?"

At this Michael sniffed, his lips pouting lightly as he obviously found what he was going to say next difficult. "Because he doesn't want to figure it out," he answered in a croaky voice. "He doesn't want to have a son. He'd rather think my mother found someone else than believe he has another child, even if he thinks she betrayed him with one of his brothers."

"Another child?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes. "So…you know about Anna? How?"

Michael tapped the side of his head. "I inherited James's brain, as well as having empathic abilities. I can feel the emotions of others and he loves her in the same way my mother loves me, or the same way you love my mother. There's no mistaking it. How are you related to Anna?"

Morgana recoiled. This boy was even better at deducing things than James, which was a truly frightening thought. "James had her with my mother when he was very young. Too young."

"So she's your half-sister?" Mars asked in disbelief. "She's your half-sister and your grandsons' half-sister too?"

Morgana had to smile at that. "I suppose that's what happens when time-travel is involved. Now come on, I've waited long enough to see your mother."

Mars sighed as he regarded her. He had waited so long to meet his father and he was leaving him already? Besides he knew his mother was going to yell at him for wondering off, so unlike his grandmother he was in no rush to see her again. He looked over to view his father one more time. He had hardly measured up to his expectations. He was intimidating enough for sure, but he had expected so much more. Instead all he saw was an angry, self-loathing liar who couldn't see what was right in front of his face.

"I thought he was a hero," Michael whispered under his breath, catching Morgana's stare out of the corner of his eye. "He was supposed to be brilliant."

Morgana scowled at him, hard. "He just risked his own life in that dungeon to save mine," she stated fiercely, demanding his attention. "He stood before three Goddesses and told them they would have to go through him to get to me. He went through excruciating pain so I could see my family again. He was once willing to spend an eternity in hell so that your mother could live – I've seen him rise up in front of thousands of demons and scare them away with nothing but a warning – He took a horrendous beating any mortal would have died several times over during just because he refused to hurt the person he loved most - He won the most brutal war this world has ever known and do you know why? He did it so I could have my baby, so your mother would be able to come home again. He did that – all of it - because we _asked _him too."

Mars turned from her to look over at James once more, his eyes squinting as he regarded him. Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe he wasn't as good at reading people as he thought. He was taken aback slightly when James raised his head to look back at him from afar, almost missing the end of Morgana's tirade as he did.

"Your father _is _a hero, and he will sacrifice anything for the people he loves. So yes, maybe he lies sometimes and gets angry when people start speaking about his deepest secrets, but believe me with the stuff he's been through he should be a monster. Instead he performs miracles to save lives. Don't ever forget that," She continued, eyes shining in her belief.

Michael shook his head. "But he's so…arrogant. So angry and suspicious. I can see the darkness he tries to hide, and it's always threatening to consume the light in him."

"I know," Morgana sighed, now throwing a glance over at James herself. "We call that light Anna. She keeps him good just by being around."

Mars nodded, before turning hollow eyes onto her. "Yours is called Merlin."

She rounded on him, lips lightly apart. "I beg your pardon?"

"Some people are just good," he explained. "My mother, Merlin, even Arthur underneath all that bravado are pure. You and James, you're not. Him without Anna, you without Merlin, and I would fear for this world. What's worse is I think the fates know it. I think they want it that way."

Morgana merely continued to gape at him, her fear evident in her expression. "I don't…" she began but had to trail off, not sure what to think of his words. She shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just…just take me to see your mother."

He nodded and swept her up in his arms, spared his father one last look, before blasting off into the skies toward Camelot. James watched the pair disappear with Gwaine at his side, eyes following them until they disappeared amongst the clouds. A slow breath exuded from his nostrils, eyes fixed on where they had disappeared.

"I don't know who that kid is, but he's something else," Gwaine spoke up, also gazing up at where Morgana and Michael had vanished. "He convinced two dozen Saxons to just walk away, and then walked _through _the wall of the dungeon to come and find you. What is he?"

James took another deep breath before answering. "He's the saviour," He finally answered, his voice croaky, expecting Gwaine to stare at him as if he had grown another head. "He's also my son."

This time Anna snapped her bewildered gaze up to meet his, joining Gwaine in condemning him with nothing but her eyes. "Your son!?" She screeched, now looking up at the clouds herself. "But…but you said that she – Imogen – you said that she betrayed you with one of our brothers in the void! He didn't even correct you!"

"No he didn't," James breathed. "Probably because he doesn't want me to feel obligated to form a bond with him, so I came up with another reason he could use. He seemed a bit shocked to come up with one."

Gwaine shook his head, both he and Anna utterly gawking at him. "How do you know he's your son?"

"I suspected we were related when he couldn't speak, but then he said Imi was his mother. Imi's been in the void for sixteen years – he looked about fifteen or sixteen – therefore she must have either gotten pregnant the moment she arrived or she already was – pair that with the fact that he's obviously powerful and looks just like me and it's pretty obvious," James explained, rattling off the words as if anyone could have worked it out. "Besides the fates told me about him before they tried to trap me in the underworld. They said mine and Imi's son would be the saviour, that it was God's plan for him to save world. He was raised in an eternal prison by Imi, so I'm sure he's pretty solid morally as you would have to be to do something like that."

Gwaine lowered his brow. "But…didn't you save the world? How are you morally solid?"

"I said horrible things to Morgana," Anna breathed out, struck by the memory of her harsh words earlier. "I called the daughter of the woman who sacrificed her life for me a harlot."

James nodded. "Yes you did, even after a told you to keep it to yourself. Get up," he commanded calmly, turning to view the young princess. He waited a few moments for her to move, but it seemed she was still thinking back over her last conversation with Morgana. "GET UP!" He roared this time, causing her to leap to her feet with eyes alive with shock. Her brother had _never _yelled at her like that before. Her skin was buzzing in her alarm.

Even Gwaine took a step back.

"Do you have any idea how upset I am right now, Anna?" He asked, once again eerily calm as he straightened himself. "I found out that you had been taken hostage from Borin. BORIN. He told me that you had run away from Morgause and Mordred, and that they had thrown you into turf as a message to me. Imagine the glee in his eyes as he recounted how they had come to the Venemagus kingdom demanding that I end my life so that you might live, and then imagine the numbing fear that spread through me like a fever after hearing you were in TURF!" He yelled again, but this time his eyes glistened instead of raging.

"Well then you shouldn't have left me with Morgause and Mordred!" She yelled back. "Why couldn't you have left me with Morgana? You ran away without a single word, telling Morgause some rubbish about some important mission when you had always said I was the most important thing to you! So if you're angry then-"

"Angry?" James cut her off, looking at her in bewilderment. "I'm not angry, Anna, I'm terrified!" He confessed, his whole expression opening up to reveal his terror. Needless to say she recoiled somewhat. "I've lost you before," he remembered, tears abruptly gathering at the base of his eyes. "I lost you once before time was reversed. It was like someone had picked out every one of my ribs one by one, every…single…ounce of me felt shattered – I was broken. I ripped open the underworld just to see you, did I tell you that part?"

Anna was stunned beyond repair now. Usually her brother kept his emotions to himself, even when it came to her, so to hear him speak like this broke her heart. It seemed something had opened him up today. "You've never told me any of that. You said that I died, but then you refused to say any more."

He pursed his lips in an effort to get control over himself and nodded. "It was the worst moment of my life," he admitted, sniffing. "I've seen mothers bleed for their children and I never shed a tear and yet the story of your death, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to stop crying if I spoke of it again. That image of you lying there…no life in your eyes…no smile on your face…knowing you would never again wake me up by jumping on my bed, knowing you would never annoy me again with your stubbornness or kick me whenever you were mad…I couldn't stand it."

Anna hung her head. She hadn't seen her brother's eyes so scared before, and guilt stabbed at her every nerve. She had done that to him. She had made the man with no fear scared.

"And as for how you spoke to Morgana," the vulnerability in his voice had vanished, replaced by a low commanding tone. "It was rude, it was wrong and _you _are better than that – look at me!" He commanded suddenly, causing her to whip her guilt ridden gaze up to meet his. "Borin would have thrown me in Zao for a year for doing what you did today, instead you will do whatever I tell you for a week without any arguments – no matter what it is. Clear?"

"What!?" She cried, looking to Gwaine for help, of who raised his arms to show his neutral side. "All I did was stand up for you!"

"All you did, Anna Regus, was insult the woman who tried to die for you!" He yelled back, pleased when she deflated. "I thought so. Now, jump twice."

"Pardon me?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Did I stutter?" He glowered down at her. "Come on, a bit of exercise won't kill you tubs."

The young princess sent him a look that would send the great dragon running for the hills, but when he lowered his gaze she released a frustrated breath…and jumped twice on the spot. "There, happy?"

"That's not funny, you know I don't know what happiness is," at her bored look he continued. "Yes I'm overcome with joy, although less back chat so people don't think your filth would be nice," He added quickly, warranting another glare.

"But…you said that this Imi betrayed you," she tried, sending him the puppy dog eyes when he glared down at her. "I thought I saw your heart break when you found out and…and I just got so angry. I mean I just kept thinking who does she think she is? And who could she replace you with anyway? Who's better than you?"

James buried his face in his hands, all too familiar with how the girl looked up to him. She had no one else after all. It was the main reason he had decided to tell Morgana who Anna really was, so his princess could have someone worthy to idolise for once. "Princess, there are plenty of people out there who are better than me. You could throw a cat out a window and hit someone better than me."

"It's true," Gwaine chimed in. "I haven't even known him that long and I know it's true, but you shouldn't throw cats out of windows. Sometimes it can land on an angry fair haired king."

James shook his head. "It's like you want to die, seriously."

"Don't pretend you know what I want," Gwaine replied darkly.

"Who?" Anna demanded. "Who's better than you? Not to make you more arrogant, but you're pretty amazing."

"Well that's true," James had to concede. He was amazing after all.

Gwaine rolled his eyes. "People also say my turnip soup is amazing, just so you know."

"But you're turnip soup _is _amazing," James corrected. "It may be the one thing that justifies you as an actual person. That and your bountiful hair."

The knight waved him off, embarrassed. "Oh come on."

"No I'm serious," James insisted. "If I didn't know better I'd assume you had magic."

Gwaine was desperately trying to conceal his smile. "Stop it, I'm blushing."

"Anyway," James continued, missing the confused look on Anna's face at the two grown men in front of her. "The point is that Morgana, Merlin, King Arthur and even Gwaine the senseless bearded fool are like family to me – making them your family too. Don't ever talk to them like that again or your punishment will be much worse," He stated seriously.

An enormous sigh burst from her mouth. She hated it when he was right. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are," he confirmed, this time in a much gentler manner. "I love you, princess."

She rolled her eyes. "I know."

His grin spread across his face like a fire through a forest. "Come on, give me a hug-" James suddenly shot up to his feet, his gaze terrified and focused on something in the sky.

Anna recoiled at the abrupt movement, shocked. She had barely seen him move. "What is it?"

James hardly heard her. His emotions were suddenly trying to rocket up through his throat, clashing and thundering around together inside of his gut. He wanted to be sick. The fear was overwhelming him. Trying to escape his every pore and even making him want to cry. He _never _cried. It could only mean one thing.

Morgana was using his chain again, and she was terrified.

"We have to go, now!" James ordered, frantic, and swept Anna up in his arms. "Gwaine, do that thing I asked of you," And with that the sorcerer prince blasted off into the heavens, leaving a confused and stunned Gwaine behind in his wake.

* * *

Back in Camelot…

Morgana closed her eyes and sighed. "He's coming."

"He is?" Arthur asked, sceptical. "How can you tell?"

The black haired beauty levelled her brother with a glare that made Uther shiver. "Because he always does."

"She's right," Michael added vaguely, staring off at nothing in particular. "He's rushing here now."

As if on cue the distant rumbles of thunder erupted in the skies outside. Gwen nearly screamed when Imi abruptly shivered, as if hearing the faint crashes. "James…" she exhaled, earning all of their bemused gazes.

"Magic man…" Bella similarly breathed out, turning the perplexed expressions onto her in Uther's arms.

Morgana looked between her two girls, her concern undeniable to anyone who even glanced at her. "What was that?" She asked softly, afraid that if she didn't she would scream it.

"Destiny," Merlin mumbled, speaking more to himself than anyone else. "They should be next to each other. Gaius, can you go collect some supplies? Anything that might be useful?"

"Of course," The elderly physician responded, laying a gentle hand on Merlin's shoulder and offering him a stern nod before taking his leave. In spite of himself Uther did as he was told and placed Bella next to Imi, laying the child gently on the ground.

"This man that's coming," The former-king began, looking up at Arthur. "Am I right in thinking he's James Regus?"

Arthur folded his arms over his chest. "Yes, father. He's the only one who can help Bella now."

"And I suppose that if I told you once more how dangerous he is, you would not listen?" Uther tried one last time.

Morgana scoffed. "You should be concerned for your granddaughter, not panicking over your own life."

"It is not my life I am worried about, Morgana," Uther protested. "The Regus line uses far more torturous methods than death to exact their revenge, like taking the lives of those close to you and making you live in that feeling for an eternity. I AM thinking of Bella, not myself."

Merlin knelt down beside Bella, just as Morgana was doing with Imi. "I think you're confusing James with his father."

"A mistake often made," James suddenly said, causing all eyes to snap in his direction. Merlin, Arthur and Gwen couldn't help the mighty grins that exploded onto their faces at the sight of him. Anna stood at his side, the girl now almost up to his shoulder.

Merlin rose steadily to his feet. Here he was, after four long years of nothing, standing in their doorway with his cherished sister at his side. It was how he often thought of them. Always together. Uther however seemed utterly terrified, as if seeing a ghost from his past. Morgana assumed it was actually rather accurate.

"James, Anna," Merlin welcomed back with a genuine goofy smile. "It's good to see you-"

"Is that my coat!?" Arthur roared, interrupting his advisor whilst pointing an accusatory finger at his cousin.

James rolled his eyes. "I told you before, it's mine now. They call it the James coat."

"Who?" Arthur demanded. "Who calls it _the James coat_?"

"You know," The sorcerer prince shrugged. "People…that I've paid to say it."

Merlin grew an unsurprised expression on his face. "So he does remember us. Who could have seen that coming…"

Morgana however was not smiling. She didn't have time for useless, petty banter. Not now. _Especially _not now. She snapped her fiery gaze up to meet James's, her eyes smothered in tears. Her girls were dying. Now was not the time for reunions. "Help me!" She cried out to him.

Her voice sent a chill down his spine, and finally his gaze landed on Imi and Bella. Needless to say he wasted no more time. With speed Merlin once thought impossible the sorcerer prince was suddenly kneeling in front of the two unconscious girls, emerald eyes stretched out to their max. Uther backed away from the scene, never once taking his own eyes off of the prince.

James turned to Michael. "You've taken their pulse I assume?" He asked, rewarded by a solemn nod from his son. "How long has it been since your mother and Bella touched?"

Mars seemed to have to summon all his courage to answer. "Long enough."

The sorcerer prince firmly shut his eyes at the news, before burying his face in his hands. "Right, so the spell I cast has now turned on them and is acting like a poison – so we need to treat this as such. Healing them with magic won't work because magic is the source of their condition so we need to think of more natural remedies – and to do that I need to remember the chemicals that will be attacking their system. Everyone but Merlin, Morgana and Michael needs to leave."

Morgana snivelled even harder. "Please…please just hurry."

James began furiously tapping his head. "Alright Poison! Poison – Poison – Poison! What would it use? Pyridine alkaloids coniine, N-methylconiine, conhydrine, pseudoconhydrine and coniceine – I have NO idea what to do about any of that!"

Uther finally seemed to recover from his position by the throne and stepped cautiously forward. "That is quite enough! I command you to leave this very moment or I shall have to bring in the entire army of Camelot to ensure that you do."

James shot up to his feet and rushed into his personal space. "Have you lost your mind," he mumbled the words so gently, but it only served to put more sting in them. Uther looked at the prince as if he had grown teeth and claws. "I'm going to save both of these girls - because I will save them, I always do, and as soon as I have…I will _kill _you. Do you understand me? You arrogant self-righteous steaming sack of piss."

Uther could only gape for a while, searching the immortals features for any sign of uncertainty in his statement. It was only when he found none that he found the strength to talk. "You would not harm me here-"

"You…killed…my mother," James spat every syllable, managing to step even closer to the former-king. "There was once a time I was willing to let that go, when we needed to get along to save the world, but no more Uther Pendragon. If my mother had been allowed to live then perhaps I could have been better. With my mother I may have actually turned into a decent man, but because of your actions I was left with no one but a tyrannical father incapable of love to raise me. Because of your actions I became what you see now. I'm a monster. I'm a killer. Driven insane by how much I have been forced to learn, now and forever a _mad man_. That was all YOU! Now for someone who knows me as well as you, who knows the things I have done and the Gods I have walked with, why don't you tell me if you think I would harm you," as he finished James leaned in, chin protruding and baring his teeth in his badly hidden rage. "Then tell me if you're surprised I have allowed you to live this long at all."

Arthur stepped forward, placing a hand on his cousins' shoulder. "I know he has done wrong, I really do, but he is still my father," the King stated calmly, earning James's glare. "And I ask you as your cousin and your friend to leave him to his own demons."

James kept his blazing glare firmly fixed on Arthur, refusing to blink as his fierce emerald eyes burned into Arthur's pleading blues. "I have put this aside before because of you, Arthur. You cannot ask it of me again."

When nothing but silence passed Merlin joined the two royal cousins. "There has been enough blood shed over this. Right now Imi and Bella need you to forget your vengeance. Let this go."

The sorcerer prince's bottom lip trembled at Merlin's words, clearly seeing the wisdom within them but not wishing to pay them any heed. "So be it. Today is not the day he dies, but that doesn't mean the day isn't coming," James reluctantly conceded, once more penetrating Uther's very soul with his cold stare, before standing up straight and taking a step back. "Run."

He couldn't help it, really he couldn't, but Uther was out the door before anyone had seen him move. In fact, they all did minus Merlin, Morgana and Michael. As one they fled the throne room, pouring out of the huge double doors as if they were being chased by a questing beast. Quickly James got to his knees once again next to a, by now, traumatised Morgana.

"Can you actually save them?" She mumbled, reluctant with fear. "Can you save my girls?"

"Absolutely," he chirped, but Merlin recognised it as a lie. "Now, can I count on you all to do everything I say from this point onwards?" When they all nodded he grinned. "Good. I'm gonna need a chicken, a chair and a chalice – two in fact," he listed.

Merlin shook his head, glancing at his ever paling daughters before bringing his watery eyes back up to him. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"JUST DO IT!" He roared, making the warlock leap to his feet. He got the chair first, before Michael retrieved a platter holding a chicken and Morgana got two chalices for him. "So!" He threw the water out over his shoulder from one of the chalices and broke off a piece of the chair. "This chair is made from Redwood which is one of the main natural and therefore more potent sources of tannin," he held the wood over the now empty chalice, before grabbing the other full goblet and pouring it all over the slab of wood. "Wash the redwood, capture the liquid that pours off and it produces Tannic acid – which expels toxins by halting liver necrosis, reducing the blood pressure which increases the spread of all poisons and stimulating immune responses needed to fight the toxins. Give Imi this."

He thrust the chalice that had captured the so-called tannic acid into Morgana's shaking hands. "All…All right," she stammered out, gently pouring the dark brown liquid into Imi's dry mouth. Merlin did the same with Bella.

"Now what?" The warlock asked.

"Now their blood will start clotting and they'll probably have a heart attack," James muttered with a bounce of his eyebrows, grabbing the chicken from the platter.

Morgana's eyes grew even wider. "What!?"

"Why!?" Michael demanded.

"It's a side effect of the tannic acid," he responded dryly, breaking up the chicken into smaller pieces. "So to counter-act that we need a stimulant to improve blood flow, and luckily it's dinner time. Chicken contains large amounts of protein – protein contains a chemical called tyrosine – tyrosine is a powerful natural stimulant – feed them these after counting to twenty."

Merlin could only gape at him, taking the chicken with Morgana. "How do you know all this?"

"Because I'm incredibly clever now do it!" He ordered in a booming voice, before snapping up to his feet and throwing his arms out wide on either side of him. "_Sabitu_," He chanted gently. Instantly an icy wind began dancing through the throne room, followed quickly by tiny flakes of snow drifting gracefully down from nowhere.

Michael frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping their temperature down," The sorcerer prince mumbled. "That's the real reason I got rid of everyone. Too much body heat. Besides heat is a catalyst for toxins. Feed them the chicken now, and make sure they swallow it."

Almost absently, the mother and father began feeding their girls the little bit of chicken. Merlin giving them to Bella whilst Morgana did the same for Imi. The black haired beauty shook her head, her bottom lip extending as she chanced a heartbroken look up at the young warlock. She saw guilt burying his usual cheer, clearly thinking this was all his fault for not knowing this would happen. Michael looked ready to explode out of his skin, the boy vibrating as he gaped down at his mother with his eyes shining in desperation. James on the other hand looked like the picture of serenity. The man had his eyes closed and stood perfectly still, steady breaths exuding gently from his mouth.

Until his eyes snapped open, and they all saw the brief flash of panic. "Alright, now get out of my way," they all looked up at him, taking only a millisecond to trust him and move away from the two girls as quick as they could…only to watch in horror as James charged forward and slammed his hands down on their stomachs.

Both Imi and Bella, wounded, jolted involuntarily and vomited at their sides out of instinct – though still unconscious. Morgana gasped, Merlin felt something snap inside of him and Michael glared at the man he had worshiped for his entire life.

"What have you done!?" Merlin cried, lips thin and eyes wide in his rising shock. However he still had the presence of mind to catch Morgana when she flung herself at the sorcerer prince, ready to rip him apart like a piece of parchment.

James merely rose, sucking in a large gulp of air to steady himself. "Michael, check their pulse," he commanded gently, walking away from the two girls and running his hand through his hair.

Michael, who had sat down in Arthur's throne to stop himself from attacking his father as Morgana had, nodded. "You just attacked my mother," he breathed out, earning James's attention. "I've killed for so much less."

James stormed over to the boy. "GET UP!" He roared, and immediately Mars shot up to his feet with wide eyes. "This is what you're going to do, Tulip. You're going to grow up, manifest some body hair and act like a man – NOT some snivelling angry mothers' boy. When I was your age I already had Anna to take care of, I'd already _lost _my mother and I put the needs of my people first when my father refused to. Now forget your selfishness…get over there…take their pulse…and tell me how long your mother and the little girl have to live. Can you handle that, man child?"

Merlin and Morgana watched as Michael had to bite his lip and stared at James with a lightly watery gaze. "You're nothing like my mother said you would be," the boy breathed out, clearly heartbroken, and shook his head in disappointment. "You're an angry, violent liar who was blessed with the talent of power."

"Yeah?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. "Well you're too skinny and your farts smell weird. Now go take their pulse."

At this Michael's eyes snapped open, ice-blue eyes abruptly wild, and took a dangerously slow step into his fathers' personal space. Merlin felt a chill flow down his whole body at the very slight, very slow movement. It was as if danger radiated off of the boy in almost visible waves, causing the all the hairs on his body to stand on end. A hot puff of air escaped Mars' nose as he regarded the man in front of him, continuing to stare until he finally leaned in to be closer.

"You shouldn't take privileges with those who are beyond you," the boy hissed. "Especially when you can't even figure out who they are. Maybe my mother lied about your intellect along with everything else."

James seemed unfazed, at least on the outside, and instead of backing away chose to smirk. "And here I was hoping you had inherited nothing from me," At this Michael almost jolted back, his once wild gaze now baffled. James grin made a brief appearance. "I knew you were my son the moment you said who your mother was. The same way I knew you would assume I couldn't figure it out because I didn't want to, or the way you didn't want me to know most likely so I wouldn't feel obligated to love you. I decided to let you have your moment and pretended I didn't know, but like you said, I'm a liar. Liars never have a reason for lying though, right?"

Needless to say Michael was stunned. He looked down at his mother, the woman who had always taught him lying was wrong. She was the Veritas. Truth in physical form, yet she had fallen in love with a man who lied to those he cared for most on a regular basis. Not only that, but he seemed to have good reasons for it. James had lied to him, made himself look like an idiot, all so he could get to know his father in whatever way he wished. And what was his prize for his efforts? He was threatened and insulted by the very person he was making himself look like an idiot for.

"Oi," James snapped his fingers in front of his sons face. "So you have lots to learn, who doesn't? Now go check their pulse."

Mars slowly nodded, dazed, before walking over to the two unconscious girls on the floor. James followed him with a stern gaze, waiting patiently as the boy squatted down and felt each of their pulses.

After what felt like an eternity, Michael allowed a brief smirk to twitch onto his handsome face. "We have at least three hours now before they pass," he told Merlin and Morgana. Merlin fell onto the floor in a heap in his relief, whereas Morgana ran forward and embraced both James and Michael in a dangerously fierce hug.

She pulled back, placing a kiss on Michael's forehead and patting James's cheek affectionately. "My boys," she whispered…before slamming her palm into James's forehead.

"Ouch! What the…!?" He gawked at her, gently rubbing his red forehead. "But I…What just happened?"

Morgana shoved a finger in his face. "Don't ever talk to Michael like that again," she threatened.

"He's my son, Blue," He said back. "I'll talk to him however I wish. Go mind your own business for once."

The black haired beauty sent him a look that told him she thought he was insane. "Your son is _my _business."

Merlin raised his eyebrows behind them, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "You're not his mother, Morgana."

"Maybe not, but he needs one," She answered, still glaring at the now bemused James. "Thank you for saving my girls."

His eyebrows knit together. "I would say you're welcome but, well, I've told enough lies."

Mars grinned at his father. "My Mum doesn't even do that to me," he stated, earning James's glare. "Not that she's your Mother…"

Merlin and Morgana smiled.

Michael folded his lips in on themselves to hide his grin.

James didn't grin at all.

"Moving on," he finally brought the dreaded silence to an end. "I haven't saved anyone yet, just bought them more time."

Merlin nodded. "So what do we do?"

"The spell I cast on Morgana before she became pregnant linked Imogen and Bella together, yes, but it also linked Imi to the earth. It had to, it was the only way to make sure she came back here and wasn't erased from existence when she escaped the void," James explained. "When Imi and Bella touched – when they connected – that spell tried to cancel itself, but failed. It turned on them both and became a poison to their blood. Now it's mutated into something else, I can't stop it anymore. We need the Dochraid."

Merlin frowned lightly, turning his head to the side. "The Dochraid?"

"Vessel of the earth?" Michael questioned, earning James surprised attention.

"Clever boy," James praised, a little surprised, before turning back to Merlin and Morgana and therefore missing Mars' awkward look at the compliment. "Dochraid means the vessel of the earth. She can help us."

Merlin understood, giving Imi and Bella one last look. "Then we'll find her. Morgana, you should stay here with the girls in case anything happens. Me, James and Michael will go find this Dochraid."

Morgana nodded. "Very well," she shrugged.

"Really?" Merlin asked, stunned.

The black haired beauty sent him a weird look, before noticing that both James and Michael seemed stunned as well. "What is it?" She asked, a little annoyed.

"You're alright with us going…and you staying behind?" Merlin was clearly reluctant to push his luck.

Morgana shook her head, frustrated. "Yes. Why?"

"So," James stepped in. "You're not going to demand you come with us? And then slap me and yell at Merlin for daring to assume you wouldn't?" He quizzed, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe kick Arthur and glare at a puppy on your way out?"

She merely held his gaze for a while, clearly offended by their opinion of her. "I'm not going to leave my girls alone when they're sick – why would I glare at a puppy?"

"We should go," James was quick to say, avoiding the question. "We don't have long and we still need to find this Dochraid. Besides, I've been dying for a piss since before I saved Camelot this morning."

Morgana wrinkled her brow in disgust. "Charming, as always," she rattled off, before stepping up to Merlin and grabbing his brown jacket in both her hands. "Be careful, Merlin, but do what you have to. We need to save them."

"I know," The young Warlock croaked back with a reassuring smile. "But there won't be much that can stop all three of us. We'll get the cure, Morgana. I promise."

She smiled sadly back at him. "I have no doubt," she breathed back.

James winced at the moment. "Yeah yeah – can we move this along? I've just met my son and you don't see me getting all emotionally creepy…why is the new boy closing his eyes?"

Merlin and Morgana frowned at him before turning to stare at Michael, who was standing with his head hung low and eyes firmly closed. He seemed lost in some form of trance, the world outside his own head fading away into darkness…until his ice-blue eyes suddenly snapped open of their own accord.

"Michael? Are you alright?" Morgana asked, her tone concerned. Something about the way he had been standing there had unnerved her more than it should have. His gaze travelled up to meet hers, but he didn't answer. Instead he just kept silently staring, leaving them all with the impression that something was very wrong.

"He doesn't like to talk," Merlin supplied for his wife, answering the question she hadn't spoken aloud yet.

James grew a serious expression. "Why would he? Talking slows you down," he spoke in a weird tone, eyes examining his son as he did. Mars turned his overly-focused, if slightly cold stare onto his father, almost as if he was confirming the other mans' words. However it was like there was something more in those eyes, something meant only for someone who could understand.

James recoiled at the gleam, a little stunned by it. "Are you sure?" He breathed out, Mars only giving a nod as a response. "I'm not willing to let them die if you're right," the prince continued.

"No, she will," Michael stated, voice devoid of all emotion. "I can sense it, and we should find out now."

"What is it?" Merlin asked, his voice barely audible.

James shook his head. "I won't let her die."

"I'll bring her back if she does," Mars groused.

The sorcerer prince ran his hand through his hair. "You can't do that. You're not God-"

"Aren't I?" Michael cut in, silencing his disturbed father.

Morgana scowled at the two of them. She had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. It seemed that after only knowing each other for a short time, the father and son already had a connection strong enough to have their own language, or perhaps it was just that their brains operated on different levels than others. Either way she wanted to know what was going on.

"Merlin…" James began slowly, eyes never leaving Michael's. "Merlin I need you to kiss Morgana, right now."

At this the husband and wife finally broke their stares toward Michael to look at the sorcerer prince. "Pardon?" Morgana had to ask. It was such a random request.

"Please, just do it," James continued in the same tone, and still staring at Michael. "I have a suspicion that the fates have done something to Morgana. Something…bad. Now is the time to test that, so if you please," he abruptly broke eye contact with his son to stare at his baffled friends. "And I'm sorry," he added, voice croaking and eyes shining. "I'm really very sorry."

Merlin shook his head. He believed him, he truly believed he was sorry, he just didn't know what for. He chanced a glance at Michael, who was also now staring at them with that empty silent stare. Merlin couldn't explain it, but something was very wrong here. Very wrong. All he knew was that James Regus wouldn't ask them to do this for no reason, and so it was in this knowledge that he had to ask whether or not he trusted the other immortal.

He nodded to himself. He did trust him.

He looked to his wife, who was gazing back and forth between Michael and James, and waited for her eyes to make contact with his. When they did she immediately knew what to do. With an awkwardness they had never felt before when sharing their love, the husband and wife slowly leant in towards each other to lock lips…and that's when it happened.

The moment their lips locked their skin lit up like the sun, explosive golden light bursting out to engulf the entire throne room. Physical sparks kindled all around them. Bouncing around under their feet and in the small gap between their bodies. The light grew stronger, more fierce with every millisecond that their lips remained locked, until finally it grew too strong and an explosion rocketed the once quiet throne room. James and Michael both had to shield their eyes, fearing they would go blind, but it was they looked back up that the real fear began.

Both Merlin and Morgana now lay motionless on the floor where they had once stood locked in an embrace, but unlike Imi and Bella their chests were not rising and falling. James' eyes widened with every second that he gazed at them, horror flooding into his features. "Oh no…." He breathed out, broken at the sight before him to the extent that he didn't hear the double doors open behind them.

"What happened?" Arthur's voice broke into the horrendous silence of the room. "What was that light and explosion…?" He trailed off when his concerned gaze landed on the two motionless bodies now lying on the marble floor, his own eyes filling with dread.

Gwen appeared behind him. "Arthur, your father has gone to retrieve the guards. I couldn't stop him…" Identically to her husband she trailed off when she caught sight of her two best friends not breathing, not moving, lying on the floor. "Oh my god!" She screamed, eyes alive with terror as she burst into the room along with Arthur. The King of Camelot fell beside Merlin and furiously began trying to find a pulse, Gwen doing to the same for Morgana.

"I didn't think…" James began as Anna entered the room, his mouth opening and closing without any sound emitting from it. Tears gathered at the base of his eyes as he shook his head. "I didn't think it would be like this I…"

"What happened?" The young princess asked, now seeing the two new motionless bodies of Merlin and Morgana. "Is Morgana alright?" She asked, her concern evident in her tone.

"Come on Merlin!" Arthur feverishly ordered, still searching for a pulse. "When did I say you could die? Don't be dead!"

Gwen looked up at her husband, tears breaking free from her devastated brown orbs. "Arthur…Arthur I can't find a pulse…" she choked out, earning the Kings distraught attention. "I think she's…she's gone."

Arthur could only continue gaping at her, the words she had spoken seemingly overwhelming the usually stable royal. "No," he exhaled, his breathing laboured. "No, this can't happen," he disagreed with fate, returning to Merlin and searching for a pulse again.

Anna, whose eyes were wide and lips parted, turned to look at James. "Morgana's dead?" She asked in a small, broken voice. He turned to look at her, mirroring her stare. "They both are?"

"I have a pulse!" Arthur suddenly called out, his ecstatic voice earning all of their immediate attention. "Merlin has pulse! He's alive!"

Gwen released a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank the heavens, and if he has a pulse then so must Morgana-"

"No," James ruthlessly halted the hopeful queen, features alarmingly solid. It was as if he had drowned the new hope that had been building in the room, their jubilant smiles falling like rocks in the ocean. "Merlin is immortal, but he still died. The only reason he has a pulse is because his immortality brought him back. Morgana is mortal and has no such power," The sorcerer prince explained, not wishing them to be more disappointed later. "Believe me, Morgana Pendragon is dead."

Arthur's eyes searched his cousins' features in blind hope, desperate to discover that this was all some horribly tasteless joke…but it wasn't. Morgana was dead. His _sister_ was dead. That was when his gaze moved around the room at a loss, not knowing what to do with either himself or anything else. A voice in his head told him he was lucky Merlin was still alive, that he should be thankful he still had the man who was like a brother to him, but he pushed it away. He didn't feel like looking at the positive side of things right now. He wanted to bludgeon them to death with the end of his blade.

Gwen seemed equally as stunned, and equally lost. "But…how?" The young Queen asked in a shredded voice. She didn't mind though. It was how she felt, shredded like an offensive scroll.

"The fates," James answered, barely noticing anything through the fog in his mind. "They did something to Morgana when she was in turf, made it impossible for her to make flesh to flesh contact with the man she loved most. When she and Merlin kissed she was already dead. It was also by chance that my spell reacted in the way that it did with Imi and Bella. Chance is just another word for fate. They're trying to wipe out the whole family apart from Merlin, and they're clever. Too clever," He continued, sounding emotionless to anyone who didn't know him. "You should all remember this day."

Even in his haze Arthur managed to frown. "Why?" He asked, distant.

"Because these so called Goddesses have threatened me with so much. They told Morgana I would break up her marriage by making her fall in love with me, they've threatened to kill Imi - the woman I love, told me that they took away my mother and gave me a child so I could learn to love in preparation for my son – the saviour of all and even after all that…threatened to take Anna away from me, saying it is her destiny to die," he began, eyes still fixed on Morgana's limp form. "But now…now they've taken away my best friend, my girl's sister, and all because she wouldn't let them kill her daughter," he shook his head, eyes unreadable.

Anna slowly rose to her feet, brow creased and eyes flooded with tears. "…Sister? Morgana's my sister?" She breathed out, barely able to speak. "But, that's not possible. Mum wasn't her mother and Borin isn't her father-"

"Borin isn't your father either," James interrupted. "I am."

At this the whole room felt like it had had a mountain fall on it, the weight of James's words heavier than any avalanche. Anna almost had to grab onto something, dizziness creeping up on her. "You?" She gasped, not knowing what to do or say or feel.

"Morgana's mother is your mother," he listed off, still staring at the lifeless Morgana as if he was unaware of what he was saying. "The fates have taken her from you, from Arthur and Gwen, from Imi and Bella and my son…from Merlin," He whispered. "That's everyone I love. You don't hurt the people I love. Everyone knows that," he took a deep, slow breath. "So remember this day, because today is the day it was realised I would kill the Gods of Fate."

Anna's already stern brow lowered at his words. "James, I don't think you know what you're saying. None of this makes any sense. I can't be your daughter, you would have told me. You wouldn't lie to me for my entire life, and you can't kill Gods-"

"Yes I can," James cut in, finally staring up at the girl he cherished. "I really can. All I need is my hammer, and I can end them."

Arthur shook his head now, beyond confused and not sure whether or not he cared anyway. "Your hammer-?"

"The hammer of Thor," James once more cut in, sending his cousin a crazed look. "And believe me, now that they've taken my best friend from me, there is nothing on heaven or earth that will stop me! Michael! You're with me!"

Mars didn't answer, merely followed when James turned to walk out the door. Unfortunately that was when Uther arrived with a small army of knights, the large group of men flooding into the room behind the former king. "There he is-"

James abruptly lifted up his arms and threw them out to his sides, sending Uther and his men soaring into the walls on either side of the buzzing throne room. Within a second they were all unconscious.

Arthur and Gwen didn't know what was happening anymore. Morgana was dead, Imi and Bella were still dying, Merlin was on the brink himself, Uther and his knights were all now unconscious and they had just found out that Anna was James daughter. "What are you doing?" Arthur asked, but he sounded too weak to be angry.

"Simple," James spun around to face his cousin. "First I'm gonna save Imi and Bella, then Mars is going to save Morgana, then I'm going to find my hammer and kill the three Gods of Fate."

Gwen blinked back her tears. "But…but Morgana's dead."

"I know," James answered immediately, sparing a glance down at the lifeless Morgana. "But they took her from us, and now we're going to take her back," he stated, and in spite of every impossible thing he had just said, they all believed him. Every word. James's eyes flicked onto Michael, who was staring blankly at him. "Come along Saviour, it's time to see how great you really are."

And with that the sorcerer prince turned and strode from the room, leaving behind a traumatised group. Mars however allowed a brief smirk to twitch onto his silent features. So his mother hadn't exaggerated in her tales of his father after all.

* * *

James and Michael Regus stormed through the darkened, ancient seeming cave with little to no concern of the shadows that danced around them. Tales were told of the Dochraid's cave. That those who entered never returned…but the father and son cared little for ghost stories right now. Imogen and Bella would die if they didn't receive the vital information from the ancient vessel of the earth.

That was not an option they would allow to happen.

The duo strode boldly round another corner and blindly entered the almost pitch black darkness. "DOCHRAID!" James roared. Morgana was dead and his rage was driving him forward. Pins and needles pricked at his fingertips, the rushing of his blood the only noise in his ears. He didn't give a damn about respect or appreciation for the creature he was about to meet. Numb to everything but the fire consuming him. "GET OUT HERE OR SUFFER MY WRATH!"

Michael's eyes flashed gold, causing the torches on the wall to burst into life. The boy then stopped dead in his tracks to look down, glaring at the soil beneath his feet. James spun around to face him, his own expression a mask of hate.

"What is it?" The sorcerer prince asked, clearly using all of his will power not to yell.

Mars briefly looked up at him, before falling to one knee and punching through the earth. James brow lowered as he could only watch, eyes shining with his impatience, until Michael pulled up the deformed body of an elderly woman. Without a slither of hesitation the boy threw the woman against the wall next to him, a wall that was a good twenty yards away.

"What is the meaning of this?" The elderly woman hissed out, her eyes appearing as if they had been sewn together. "Who dares interrupt my slumber?"

James and Michael sauntered up to her. "Dochraid," the prince greeted in hushed tones. "I have work for you."

"And who are you to command me, boy?" The Dochraid slithered out, throwing out her open palms. "Give me your hands if you wish to see another day."

James shared a brief glance with Michael, before they each placed their right hand in her waiting grey palms. Without wasting further seconds the ancient woman brought them up to her lined face and greedily absorbed their scent…before throwing them both away with a gasp. "Impossible!"

"Not quite," James growled. "I am the prince of all that is magical, and as I said, I have work for-"

"I know who you are, Almighty Thor," The Dochraid interrupted breathlessly. "Destined to be the ruthless defender of Earth, destined to do what is right despite your dark heart and suffer for it. But it is your son I find impossible. I never expected to meet God's chosen so soon."

Mars allowed his lips to part in his confusion. "God's chosen?"

"We don't have time," James rustled out.

"There is always time for one such as he, Thor," she wheezed. "For you are great but your son is more. The saviour will bring great change to this planet. Even the Gods know his name, even they _fear _it, for they know God gave him some of his essence when he made him. That is why they call him the sentient power, because he is true conscious, righteous power."

Michael looked ready to run away, the fear in his eyes reflecting out for all to see. "I'm just a person."

"You are far from that," She continued. "There will come a time when all shall look to you and grovel at your feet. Entire armies will worship you, flowers will bloom at your feet, life and death will be yours to command every second that you draw breath. There will even be whispers that you are the reincarnation of the lord God himself. Believe me young one, you have never been just a person."

Mars shook his head, his insides flooding with alarm. He couldn't imagine anything more terrible than being forced to live that life. To spend his life in the pursuit of something greater and never being able to think of himself. That was his mothers' life, the woman never thinking of herself and only him. He had thought over it many times, and what he had always decided was that he never wanted his life to be like that. Is that why Kilgharrah had called him the saviour? Why the fates had called him the sentient power? Because he was destined to never have a normal life? Never have what he wanted…

"His fate is not why we are here, and you don't get to scare my son wrinkles," James voice brought him back to what was happening. "Imogen and Isabella Pendragon lay dying in Camelot as we speak and they need your help. Their connection to each other and the earth is what is poisoning their blood. How do we fix it?"

The Dochraid let loose a crooked smile, her misshapen yellow teeth appearing. "Thor wishes to save both Pendragon girls does he?" She gave a throaty laugh. "You must have done something awful to hasten fate like this-"

"Are you laughing because you're nervous?" James interrupted the ancient woman before him, taking a dangerous step into her personal space. "Or are you just stupid?"

The Dochraid's smile fell slowly from her grey features, her expression melting into one of concern. "I can see this means much to you, my prince, but I cannot give you the help you seek."

"Liar," Michael spoke up, stone faced, earning their attention. "My mother is dying, and I feel…angry," he continued, as if the sensation was new to him. "I've never been angry before. I don't know what I'll do, so please tell us. Please?"

Her nose twitched at the very calm threat issued from the most powerful being she had ever come across. "You would not-"

"TELL ME!" Michael abruptly screamed. His voice echoed throughout the cave, the earth vibrating beneath their feet. The dead leaves on the floor exploded up into the air all around them, the cave rumbling like it would collapse at any second, as Mars eyes flashed a luminous white. The Dochraid recoiled into the wall behind her, chin shaking. Even James took a subconscious step back, eyes dancing with apprehension as he surveyed his son.

"Only I can break the connection!" The Dochraid cried out, bringing her hands up to shield her face. "Please! You need me alive!"

"Stand back, Michael!" James barked at his son when the boy took a dangerous step toward the cowering creature. "If she dies then so does your mother, now control yourself!"

Mars stared down his hero, eyes still that blinding white, before eventually taking a deep calming breath. Slowly his eyes faded back to their normal ice-blue, the wind dissipating into nothingness around them once more, and he took a step back with a nod. "So be it," he concluded, before snapping his gaze onto a rising Dochraid, who slowly lowered herself back down onto the floor at the look.

James squatted down in front of the recoiling ancient woman, eyes narrowing at her. "If this is a trick, if this is one of your ruses to preserve the old ways, then me and my boy here will be beyond furious…and you will know your mistake." He promised, before he rose to glare down at her along with Michael.

"If is lying I'll break her, father," Mars breathed out, giving a small shake of his head. "No-one conspires against my mother and gets away with it."

James nodded. "Abso-god-damn-lutely," He whole heartedly agreed, a low growl emanating from the base of his throat. "Imogen Pendragon, Bella Pendragon, Morgana – Merlin – King Arthur and his queen are under our protection. Michael, taking her to Camelot is my duty. Do you know what you need to do for yours?"

It was Mars turn to nod. "I do."

"Good," The sorcerer prince stated, before turning to lock gazes with the boy. "Because it's time to save your Grandmother. Merlin has done all he can and I've taken you as far as I can, but now it's up to you. We can't help you anymore. It's your turn to save the day. I know you're young, and truly I am sorry for forcing this on you, but today is the day you earn your lineage. Today is the day you earn your place in this family, because if you don't it dies. Today is the day you become known as my son, prince of all that is magical, heir to my throne and prove yourself worthy of the responsibility that comes with being a Regus, a Pendragon and Emrys grandson."

Michael did everything he could not to let his fear shine through in his eyes. This was the moment he had been dreaming about for his entire life. The moment when he would prove himself to his father, to his whole family. The day was here. "Yes, Father," He stated simply, giving his head a firm nod as he did.

"Good," James responded, levelling him with a serious look, before bringing his hand up and placing it on his shoulder. However something flickered over his features, something close to worry. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Mars allowed a brief smirk to twitch onto his lips. "You have _no _idea what I'm capable of," he answered, confidence dripping with every syllable. "Breaking into hell and freeing Morgana's soul is as good as done."

James nodded, a small but proud smile forming on his handsome features. "Look at that, you are my son," he laughed a little, but to Michael it felt like a thud in his chest. That was acceptance in his mind, and there was nothing he wanted more. The only thing that would make it perfect would be a nickname, something his mother had said his father only gave to those he cared for most. James patted him on the shoulder and took a step back. "Go bring this family together…Caleb," He added, almost reluctantly.

Mars grinned. He couldn't help it. His very own nickname from the sorcerer prince. Caleb was a rare shortened version of Michael, and it was everything he wanted with a cherry on top. "So it shall be," he answered, and with that blasted off of the ground, through the roof of the cave and into the sky – leaving behind a smiling James and cowering Dochraid.

James laughed, his grin only widening as he stared after the boy. "I have a son," he laughed out.

* * *

The wind swept over him as he flew, his jet black hair whipping around in the fierce gale erupting over his face. Yet still Mars eyes remained unfazed. He did not blink, he did not break his focus. His arm was extended in front of him with his fist clenched, soaring through the heavens faster than he had ever done before.

He would, after all, need all the speed he could get.

Without warning his eyes began to glow with that ever intense white, burying his pupils in pure light, but it didn't stop there. With gradual grace even his skin began to radiate the intense light, until eventually the boy was nothing but white. His clothes, his features, all details giving way to pure white energy that engulfed and cocooned him.

That was when he abruptly pulled up, spiralling straight up into the air amidst a tirade of twirls and spins, until finally coming to glide in mid-air. His luminous eyes studied the ground that was so far down below, trailing over crevice and mound from miles in the air. This was it, he realised with a firm nod. How he knew where he was going, like most things in his life, he didn't know. But he just did. He always knew.

With a ripping, erupting sound the boy fired down towards the Earth faster than a bullet out of a gun. A ball of fire exploded all around him as the atmosphere fought to gain control over his speed. Mars grit his teeth as fire encompassed him, the heat boring into his flesh, until finally he reached the ground…but he didn't stop there.

He hurtled into the terrain, rupturing through the earth as if it wasn't even there, and continued firing down. Chunks of rock and mud disintegrated before they even touched him, burning into nothingness through the fire and energy exuding off of him in furious waves. Both arms were raised in front of him now, ripping and thrusting the earth from his path. His luminous eyes were narrowed but not unfocused. His fists were balled up into tightly wound fists. His teeth were bearing as growls vibrated from his lips. He kept pushing, knowing there was more to come, knowing he would have to keep forcing himself through that which no mortal was ever meant to do.

And that's when he did it.

He exploded into empty space, no longer surrounded by rupturing earth, but instead the majesty of the underworld graced his luminous gaze. Despite having come through the earth, shooting stars danced above him through a blanket of night, several moons hanging like luminous iris's. Strange creatures with wings soared from every which way, incredible monuments loomed over the varied land masses, but it was what lay between all that that interested Mars.

Five endless rivers immediately caught his attention. One swarmed with flames, screeches of raw agony echoing up from the darkness beneath the fire. The second, white waves crashing together with oblivious moans from the souls within blowing in the wind. Third, black as the soul of a demon. Lamenting wails echoed out from its dark depths, endless sorrow flooding his heart as he gazed upon it. Fourth, and the largest of them all, the river of death itself. In it, the souls could actually be seen. Their charred and decayed forms endlessly swirling and gliding in the place of waves amongst the murky waters. These were the rivers Phlegethon, Lethe, Cocytus and Styx.

This meant he hadn't even entered the next realm yet, merely grazed it, and it also meant he was in the right place. His pure white eyes scanned the torturous surroundings beneath. Morgana did not belong in any of these tormented, endless lakes of death. She had a good heart, an unfractured soul, and more importantly she had not yet been dead long enough to pass these lakes and make it to the next realm. He needed to find the ferryman who travelled along the river Acheron, the river of pain, where the ferryman would escort new souls into the next realm on his boat.

The next realm was beyond even him to reach. If Morgana's soul passed that barrier, she would be lost forever. With feverish determination he tried to locate the boat, neck craning and swooping around, until finally he felt his heart jump. There, in the far off distance, sailing down the calm dead waters was the shadow of a boat.

Time may not have existed down here until he wasted none of it, blasting off at miraculous speeds to reach his destination. Closer. He pushed himself harder. He had to get there in time. Even closer. With a growl and one final push his speed doubled and he found himself over the ancient, rusted boat.

She was there. Morgana Pendragon, next to a young girl he didn't know with almost white golden hair. The two seemed completely oblivious to their surroundings and each other, instead staring off into nothingness. At the very front stood a dark figure, covered by a dusky frayed robe, as he continually cast his giant ore into the waters of the damned to ferry them forward. With a twitch of his lips he landed gently on the creaking wooden panels of the ferry, pleased when his arrival seemed to startle the black haired beauty and her golden companion awake.

"What…?" Morgana began, her foggy eyes taking in her surroundings and flooding with horror. "Where am I? What's happening!?"

Michael lunged forwards and sealed her within his own strong grip. "Morgana, you're safe. I promise you."

"Safe!?" She cried. "Where am I?"

Mars held her even tighter. "It doesn't matter, because I'm here to take you home."

"Who are you people?" The blonde demanded, she too becoming aware of her surroundings, until her eyes focused on something behind Michael. "Oh my God!" The girl, no older than Michael himself, screamed.

Mars frowned, spinning around to see the dark figure from before now facing them…only now his dusky robe no longer covered him. Instead they could see what lay beneath, and even Michael drew back at the sight. The figure was nothing but a skeleton without an ounce of flesh covering its bones, its hollow eyes glowering at the intruder.

"You are not to be here," The skeleton groused out, voice husky and darker than his empty eyes.

Mars fixed himself before stepping forward. "I go where I want, I take what I want, and I'm taking my grandmother when I leave."

"Michael?" Morgana asked, seemingly breaching from her state of oblivion.

"It's me, Morgana," He answered her, craning his neck around to send her a thin smile. "And don't worry, we're leaving ," he assured his grandmother, eyes blazing as they were once more upon the skeletal ferry man. "You'd be surprised how little can get in my way."

The skeleton limped forward, hovelling until he stood before the boy. "My name is Charon, and the only way to gain my favour and take a soul is with a Danake. An ancient silver coin that only the dead now carry, and these two have already given me theirs to ferry them across Hell. What do you intend to do?"

"Hell?" The blonde girl cried, beginning to freak out and immediately looking for a way out of the boat. "We're in hell?

Morgana too was beginning to feel panic rise like smoke from a flame. "I don't understand. How did we get here?"

Michael examined not only his grandmother but also the new blonde girl. He didn't know who she was but she seemed so scared, so lost that he suddenly felt the need to rescue her as well…but he wouldn't. He knew nothing about her, and it was going to be hard enough to get Morgana out without extras. But could he just leave an innocent soul to die? Was it his choice to make? Or was it…fates? The word made his skin prickle in anger. From recent experience, it was fair to say fate didn't know what it was doing anymore. Perhaps it was time someone else took charge.

His mind made up he glared back at Charon, willing to do something he never thought he would to save the two women. He would use his name. "My name is Michael Regus, I am the grandson of Emrys and Morgana Le fay – the son of James Regus and Imogen Pendragon. I am a Legend. I am more brutal than every force in nature, the sentient power, the saviour and the ultimate authority," he threw his arms out on either side of him. "I am God's chosen on earth, a walking Deity and I command you to release both of these souls or feel the wrath of God!"

Morgana stared at her grandsons back with eyes swimming in awe, her lips lightly parted in her surprise. _Was any of that true? _She had to think. She knew he was powerful, he had to be to rescue her and James from turf and be here with her now, but if what he had just said was true then her grandson was so much more than she had first thought.

So much more.

"Is that true?" The blonde whispered next to her, leaning into the other woman's space. "And how can he be your grandson if he's really a Regus?"

Morgana shook her head. "He's always been honest with me," she presumed. "And it's a long story of how he came to be here-"

"Your daughter time travelled from the future and then gave birth in the void – I get that," The girl cut in, suddenly earning Morgana's rapturous attention. "I meant how can he be a Regus with eyes so kind?"

The black haired beauty forgot everything but the blonde in front of her. "Who are you?"

"My name is Cassia," The girl offered her hand, which when Morgana took the blonde abruptly licked. Morgana gasped and whipped her hand away with a fright. "Hmm, some evil in there after all. Small but tasty."

"Did she just lick your hand?" Michael asked, bringing Morgana's gaze back onto him.

She slowly nodded, as if unsure herself. "I think so."

"You may take your grandmother, Saviour," Charon cut in to the weird moment. "But the girl stays with me. Her soul is worth too much. She is the last of her kind and blessed with royal blood. You may not have her."

Mars released a breath through his nose at the deal, twisting his neck around to stare at the strange blonde girl. Her blue eyes were wide with apprehension, an innocence beaming out at him the likes of which a child could only claim, and he felt something shift in his chest. It was beyond rare for him to help complete strangers. His time in the void had taught him that only family mattered, only family could you trust…so then what was different about her? Why did his heart pound in his ears as he looked at her? Why did it feel like his instincts were fighting against his head and heart as to whether he should leave her here or not?

Why did the thought of leaving this strangest of strangers behind make him feel angry with himself?

"No," Mars finally decided, turning back to view the skeleton. "They both come with me."

Charon drew back in his surprise. "You _cannot _take her."

"Oh I wouldn't recommend trying to stop me," Mars said with a smirk. "Want to know why?"

"Because you are Gods chosen?"

"No," He finished. "Because I can do this," and with that, Michael shoved the skeletal ferry man over the side of the boat into the river of pain. The moment the splash was heard he rounded on Morgana and Cassia to kneel before them. "Alright, you need to will yourself back into your bodies. Conscious souls can decide whether or not they pass on to the next realm, provided they have enough will and charge."

"Charge?" Morgana asked, slyly sliding away from the odd blonde, who right now seemed to be checking her fingernails. "Does she have to come?" She whispered to Michael, clearly nervous.

"It feels like my fingernails are still growing," Cassia mumbled, before thrusting them in Mars' face. "Are they still growing?"

Michael shared a baffled look with his grandmother, and finally shook his head. "I…I don't know-"

"But you always know – isn't that what you say?" Cassia hurriedly put forth, ignoring their shocked stares.

"How do you know that?" Mars demanded. "Who are you? What are you? You're not human I know that much."

Cassia looked down at her hands again. "It was those bandits that killed me, wasn't it? Yeah I thought so. They had such horrible futures – and pasts. You're going to fall in love with me," She abruptly stated, eyes flicking back up to Michael, who retreated at her firm gaze.

"I'm…I'm going to what?" He stuttered.

"I don't know if I'll love you back. I hope I will," she continued, now playing with her dress. "You're handsome, like your father. So much like your father…and your mother in kindness…and your grandfather in spirit. That's why you'll save me no matter who I am, because that's what your grandfather would do. You respect him too much not to, so can we just do this before I start to decay. I like my blonde hair."

Both Morgana and Michael could only stare, baffled, at the girl who was still playing with her dress. Who _was _this girl? And how did they become so unlucky as to run into her?

"I like her hair too…" Morgana, surprisingly, agreed. "Just tell us how to get back."

Michael had to shake his head, making a mental note to find this strange blonde girl on the surface after this was all done. "Alright, close your eyes," he commanded, causing both girls to do as he instructed. "Now imagine forcing your way out of this place. Over and over in your heads, repeat it, keep going, all in your heads – your rising from this place and summoning yourself forwards. Now imagine that voice getting louder and louder and louder until it feels like your head is going to explode!" And with that, Michael held up his suddenly white luminous palms and slammed them down on the women's stomachs.

* * *

Morgana gasped awake, her eyes snapping open as she bolted up into a sitting position. Her livid ice-blue eyes feverishly scanned her surroundings. She was back in the throne room of Camelot, but didn't have time to examine the details. Greedily she drank in the thick oxygen engulfing her. It was like soup for her lungs, great tasting nourishing soup.

Much like Gwaine's turnip soup.

"Morgana!" Gwen's voice erupted from somewhere behind her, followed by the Queens arms encircling and squeezing the little amount of life she had out of her. "Arthur! Arthur she's alive!" Gwen's jubilance was unmistakable, even as the black haired beauty still tried to replenish her oxygen starved lungs.

She heard some frantic footsteps before a heavy thud. No doubt Arthur falling to his knee. "I don't believe it…they actually did it," Arthur murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "They actually brought her back."

"God bless those Regus's," Gwen breathed out, her head coming to rest on Morgana's quivering one.

It was at this point that Morgana heard a snort. Anna? "We are the temples of amazement," Definitely Anna, Morgana thought to herself. She'd never known someone to be so sarcastic at such a young age before. Sure enough, the young princess knelt done in front of her, a concerned sparkle dancing in her eyes. "Are you alright, sister?"

In spite of herself Morgana's gaze shot up to meet hers. "He told you?" She croaked out, too absent minded to notice Anna's expression fall into one of disbelief. "James…he told you he's your father?"

Anna backed away, eyes flooding and mouth open. It was true…it was actually true. James was her father, all this time, her whole _life _he had been. He had lied to her. The man she trusted, the same trust that had always made her feel safe, had lied to her for her entire life. No wonder he had always been willing to die to protect her. No wonder he had always been there to look after her. He hadn't chosen to do any of that out of brotherly love. He had done it because she was his responsibility, not because they shared an unusually powerful sibling relationship.

How could he?

How could he do this to her?

It was therefore unfortunate timing for James himself to come walking in, although in true to character fashion refused to be conventional about an entrance. The Dochraid came flying in, the ancient creature sliding across the marble flooring until it hit the first step before the throne.

"Anyone wish for an old, decrepit grey woman with no eyes? Because if so, it's your lucky day," James said with a wink. "Blue! You're alive! I may need to teach that boy of mine a thing or two but he's good, I'll give him that," he squatted down in front of her and planted a kiss on her forehead, before moving over to Merlin and slamming his open palm down on the warlocks chest.

"Agh!" Merlin cried as he bolted upright. "Mummy, don't put me in that dress!"

All eyes, even Morgana's, boggled at him. Arthur's however were full of mirth. "This day is actually turning out quite well," he said, features smothered in smug. "Quite well."

James laid a hand on Anna's head as he strode passed her, messing up her hair as he usually did. "Turn that frown upside down squirt, we have work to do," Anna shoved his hand off and glared at his retreating back. He didn't even remember spilling his biggest secret to her. Clearly he had been too lost in his emotions at the sight of a dead Morgana to realise what he had done. "Dochraid, start healing Imi and Bella. If they die then, well, likewise."

"Morgana!" Merlin called, appearing in front of the black haired beauty who had been eyeing Anna's movements since James had entered the room. "Morgana? Are you alright?" He asked, his worry so intense that he began feeling nauseous with it. Just seeing her gasping for breath in the middle of the throne room brought back a flood ton worth of awful memories.

She offered her husband a touched smile, always pleasantly surprised by the concern she could see in his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine, Merlin. Are you alright?"

The young warlock let his head hang in relief. "I think I will be…eventually. I feel like I've missed a lot though," He answered with a smile , lifting his hand to stroke her cheek.

"Don't touch her!" Mars commanded, striding into the room and forcing himself between the husband and wife. "Don't ever touch her again!"

Merlin scowled up at his grandson. "You may want to explain that."

"Michael, you've done well," James praised, laying a hand on his sons shoulder. "Beyond well. Are you alright?"

"Hell is not a place I would like to visit again," Mars replied, frowning. "And you were right, the fates have placed a curse on Morgana which won't allow her to make flesh to flesh contact with Merlin."

Morgana withdrew into herself, her face morphing into a mask of revulsion. "…What!?" She screeched, looking to an equally horrified Merlin.

"No, that's not possible," Merlin denied with a shake of his head.

"Yes it is," Michael stated, emotionless. "If you and Morgana make skin to skin contact at all, then she dies. I've seen it."

Morgana felt her cheeks go numb. "So…so it wasn't a dream?" She wheezed. "You really just pulled me from the underworld?"

"Yes," Was Mars cold response.

Morgana could feel herself welling up. "But when did the fates even…?" She trailed off as she remembered what Lachesis had said and done to her in turf, just before Michael had arrived.

_"Get your hands off of her!" James commanded in Clotho's grasp._

_"You should consider yourselves fortunate that our hands remain tied," Lachesis hissed at the choking Morgana in her grasp, bringing her free hand up and slamming it down on her writhing captives forehead. "Were it up to us we would end your naïve existence, but we will have to settle for breaking your heart instead."_

Morgana felt a cold, icy tear streak down her cheek at the memory. Lachesis had said she was going to break her heart as punishment for her part in breaking fates rules and releasing Imogen. Had the Goddess really done this? Had she made it so she could never really touch the man she loved again? Never kiss him, never hold his hand, share a bed or embrace him ever again.

She looked over to gaze in raw horror at her husband, her husband who she could never touch again. "Merlin," she whimpered, more tears breaking free.

Merlin's eyes were wide and lips parted, the dull ache in his chest throbbing more and more with each second that the news sunk in. This couldn't be happening. He felt sick. Why would the fates do this? How _could_ they do this? Make it so he could never run his hands over her milky skin ever again. How could they destroy them like this? He felt violated. Every cell in him protesting against this.

"They tried…to kill my Imi," Morgana choked out, speaking more to herself than anyone else. "The fates. They wanted to leave her in the void until she died. They've taken the man I love with my _whole soul _away from me. They lied and told me that I would fall in love with the one and only Thor, thereby betraying not only Merlin but Imi as well."

Merlin silently choked. "They said that you would fall in love with James?" He asked in a small voice, waiting for her nod before he looked over at the other immortal in slight betrayal. "They told me you would be my doom."

"What?" Morgana gasped, wanting to reach out and grab her husbands' hand…but she couldn't. She would never be able to again.

"They said I was going to kill you?" James damn near yelled. "Why would I ever do that?"

Merlin swallowed before he answered. "They said I would take away that which you cherish most."

James released a furious breath through his nostrils. "I heard them say it was always Anna's destiny to die. They're going to take my girl away from me – I know it, they stole the woman I love and tried to kill her in the void. I missed the birth and upbringing of my son because of them, time I will never be able to make up to him. He could have DIED in there without me ever even meeting him."

At this Michael let his lips part slightly. Did his father…care? If he did, truly did care for him even a little, then perhaps he could be honest with him. Perhaps his father could save him from his own plague. He opened his mouth but closed it again, before finally summoning the courage to tell the truth.

"Dad…" He called gently, earning James' instant and bewildered attention at the title. "They said…the Dochraid said the fates want my destiny to be leading the planet out of the dark. That I'm special. They said I was Gods' chosen warrior, the sentient power – the saviour of all…but I _can't _be," he finalised, his eyes moistening with unshed tears. "I can't handle all these people looking at me as if I'm some kind of messiah. I can't do it. I'm not a warrior, I'm not who they say I am. I will never be that man."

James let his brow lower. "Michael, you just broke into hell, brought someone back from the dead and you're not even out of breath. I think it's pretty obvious that you're everything they said you are and more."

"That's just power, I've always had it," Mars brushed off his argument. "When I was three I made a giant leap to its death from a mountain just by talking to it. When I was five I watched a mother lose her child, and that was the moment I realised I was empathic, because I felt that woman's every pain as if it was my own. The same day I discovered I could tell when people were lying, because that mothers' husband comforted her by promising he would always be there for her. I can _destroy _an entire army as easily as I can kill one person, bend the rules of nature, see things before they happen – I'm certain that I could create life if I ever tried it!"

James hung his head. "Michael-"

"Stop them," he interrupted, chin shaking a little. "I need you to stop them because they're wrong about me. I shouldn't be the saviour of mankind, I should be removed from mankind! If you want to make up the time you've missed with me then this is how you can do it. Please, Dad. Please stop them."

James merely continued to stare at the boy with an unreadable expression on his face, before eventually letting his eyes drop in thought. "Here's how this works," James began, looking back up at his son after a few moments of silent deliberation. "Your mother, knowing her as I do, no doubt believes that you're meant for greatness. She also wishes you weren't, because she knows what it means to be great, but knows this is your destiny as I do. She's proud of that," James shifted uncomfortably. "I'm proud of that, of who you are and will be-"

"But I'm _not _that person," Michael interrupted, a little desperate. "I'm dangerous, not a saviour. Every time I meet someone, hug my mother, talk to another person – I have to concentrate on not killing them, on not turning them to dust, on trying not to reveal everything I see because they may find it painful. And if they find it painful then so will I. I _hate _what I am. I detest it. And they want to make me the saviour of all when I could wipe out the whole world? It's not only dangerous but ludicrous. I need your help."

James sighed. "It's natural to be scared, but your mother fought for you for fifteen years not just because she loves you but because she knows what you're meant to do," Mars let his head hang in disappointment, his eyes closing. He should have known better. His father didn't understand. He didn't even know who he was, never mind anything else. "But I say to hell with what parents want for you."

Mars head snapped up to look at him, shocked. "What?"

"I said to hell with what parents want," James repeated, a determined frown on his face. "This is your life not your mothers, not mine. We don't own you and neither does the rest of the world. If you want something different then that's what you'll have, because I can promise you, now that you have me nothing will control or scare you ever again. If the world needs someone to save it then I'll make it my responsibility, not yours."

Michael was stunned. His mother and Morgana were right. His father was something else. He shook his head, not knowing what to say. "Thank you," he breathed out finally.

"Don't ever thank me," James scolded. "I'm your father. Your blood is my blood, your flesh is my flesh and your happiness is my happiness. If you ever have a problem too great then I'll pull you from it, I swear," The prince stated without a flicker of doubt. "And we'll start by saving your mother and Bella."

James's statement seemed to draw in the attention of Merlin and Morgana. "You can save them?" Morgana asked, for a second forgetting her own problems.

"That's why she's here," James directed their attention toward the Dochraid, who had moved on from Imi and was now hovering over Bella. "She is the only one who can break the connection, and as soon as she does then I will release her."

"Where am I?" Like a flash of lightening all four of them whipped their gaze around to stare at the source of the voice, only to see Imogen sitting up with her hand placed gently on her head. Had the situation not been so abrupt and bewildering, the gawking four might have found it more amusing that all their expressions mirrored each others'. However the situation _was _abrupt and bewildering. Imogen was sitting up, conscious, as if she had never been on the verge of death in the first place.

Merlin and Morgana pried their gaze away from the seemingly recovered Imogen to now gawk at James instead, only for him to throw them a baffled scowl. "I didn't think it would be that fast," he wheezed out.

"Mummy?" Bella's voice was next. They all looked over to see the little girl also sitting up, her bottom lip quivering in her fear. Morgana melted at the sight and rushed over to her, sweeping tiny Bella up in her arms and burying her head in her shoulder.

"It's alright baby," The black haired beauty hushed. "It's all alright, Mummy's here."

"I can't take this," Merlin stated, feeling light headed. He grabbed a hold of Arthur's shoulder when he felt himself wobble on his feet. "I think I'm gonna…gonna…yep," and with that the powerful Emrys fainted, landing hard on his back with absolutely no effort to be caught on Arthur's part.

The king shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"It is done," The Dochraid hissed in the sorcerer prince's direction. "May I take my leave now, my Lord Regus?"

James nodded absently, entranced by the sight of Imogen. "Go," Was his simple command, not realising the ancient creature had already vanished.

"Mick…" Imogen's dazed voice once again stole their attention. "Mi…Michael? Where's Michael?" She asked, trying to lift her blurred vision to view the figures in the room she could hear talking. "Where's my son!?" She demanded this time.

Mars promptly jumped forward, crouching down at his mothers' side and grasping her hand. "I'm here, Mum. I'm safe."

Her head bounced around for a bit on her shoulders before she finally caught sight of her boy, and her expression dissolved into one of absolute relief. However she didn't have time to do anything else, because Michael had wrapped her up in his arms and gave her the fiercest embrace of his life, clutching at his mother as if she would fall off a cliff if he let go. A small noise escaped the base of his throat as he tried to hide the bundles of relief flooding through him, forcing a lightly stunned Imi to return the embrace.

"Mikey? What's wrong?" She asked in a gentle tone. Her son was a compassionate person, but he had always kept his emotions to himself. It was just the way he was, and he hadn't hugged her like this since he was nine years of age.

"I love you, Mum," he wheezed out, and hugged her even tighter.

Her bleary eyes filled with moisture at the more than rare show of affection from her only child, having to bring her head back and cup his cheeks so she could stare right in his eyes. "I love you too sweetheart, but what's wrong? What happened?"

At her question his lips twitched a little. "I found him, Mum. I found my father," He whispered, unable to keep the hint of jubilance out of his tone. Imi's concerned features slowly morphed into one of shock, but it was when James stepped forward that she nearly gasped.

"You were poisoned when you and Bella touched," The sorcerer prince explained, looking down at her with his lips lightly parted. "I don't know how he did it, but your son…_our _son saved you when I let fear nearly overcome me," he finished.

They merely continued to keep staring at each other in silence until eventually, finally, he offered her his hand to take. Her wide eyed gaze travelled down to his open hand. Ready, willing and desperate to take it. So she did. With extreme trepidation she lay her smaller hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet, her hands coming up to rest on his chest the moment she stood up straight. His hands sunk to rest on her hips, their faces a mere hairs' width away from the others, their eyes locked together.

"You didn't tell me you were pregnant," he breathed out, his gaze not angry but flooded with guilt.

Imi tried to swallow down her own remorse, but gave the faintest of nods. "I know," she murmured back. "But would you have let me jump into the void if I had?"

His eyes closed briefly. She was right. "Never," he answered, voice croaking out. "I never would have let you jump," he said with a firm shake of his head, gaze determined. "I'm so sorry, Imi."

Her brow lowered somewhat, but refused to take her eyes off of his face. She had spent sixteen years waiting to see it, she would never take her eyes off of him again. "Sorry for what?"

"For the last sixteen years of your life," he answered quickly, too wrapped up with the woman in front of him to notice the others in the room. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, to help you raise Michael – to teach him the things he obviously needs to know," at this he sent Michael a knowing gaze before turning back to Imi. "I was willing to let you stay in the void so the world would be safe when I should have broken you out the moment you were locked in there."

Imi offered him a small smile. "James…the last sixteen years have been hell, without exaggerating," she replied, causing him to nod regretfully. "There were days where I couldn't blink I was in so much pain, and most of the others I assumed I was going to die. But I had him," she said with a nod to Michael, her smile only growing. "He was everything I needed to keep going, despite being too much like you for his own good at times," she said with a smirk in her boys' direction.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Here we go."

"What's wrong with being like me?" James asked, clearly offended, but Imi's lowered gaze caused him to roll his eyes. "Oh come on, as if you're not lucky to have all this," he gestured toward himself and earned her reluctant smile. "Arthur, tell miss better-than-thou how amazing I am."

Arthur, who was checking on a still unconscious Merlin, looked up with a frown. "Do you think I'm someone else?"

"Nope, just wishing," James retorted with a bounce of his eyebrows.

Imi lost her smile. "Is my Dad dead?"

"He'll wish he was when I'm done reminding him how he fainted," Arthur answered her. "It's going to be pretty glorious."

James snapped his fingers and pointed at his cousin. "Like the plan. You can expect my support."

Arthur nodded. "I love you, Cousin."

"Right back at you," he answered, before turning round to face a smirking Imi.

"If you love me, you'll leave my Daddy alone," The girl from the future offered the sorcerer prince.

James couldn't help but smirk back. "Then consider him a free man," He replied, causing the giant grin to spread across her face. He wasted no more time. With little to no restraint he pulled her to him and claimed her lips with his own hungry ones, desperate to taste the woman who had been stolen from him for four years. Unsurprisingly she yanked him closer, feverish in her need to be closer to him.

Needless to say Michael had to turn around, disgusted at the sight before him, to face Arthur with a similar expression on his face. "Want to use my sword to poke out your eyes?" The fair haired king asked in a sympathetic tone.

Mars nodded. "No thanks, I'm gonna use my fingers. I figure the pain will help me ignore them."

"Ah, one of my favourites," Arthur agreed, just as Morgana charged past him.

The black haired beauty put down Bella next to Michael, shoved James away from Imi and pulled the surprised girl into a desperately fierce embrace. Imi fought to pull out of her mothers' arms with no success, finding it hard to breathe as her nose and mouth were pressed firmly against Morgana's shoulder.

"Oh my baby," Morgana exhaled, repeatedly smoothing down Imi's hair with her hands. "My beautiful brave girl. I've missed you so so SO much!" She growled out the latter.

James reluctantly lifted his finger. "Uh, Blue? Firstly, ouch again, and secondly I'm not sure she can breathe..."

Morgana didn't hear him as she was currently placing kisses on top of Imi's head. "I love you so much Imogen. Every day that passed I told myself I was one day closer to finding you, it was the only way I could keep going."

"Alright seriously, Morgana, she can't breathe," James tried again.

This time Morgana heard him, and quickly pulled away from her girl. Imi immediately gasped for breath, but instead of moaning about her mothers' violent embrace merely threw her arms around her instead. Morgana laughed into her girls shoulder, closing her eyes when she realised she wasn't imagining this.

"Sorry I almost killed you," The black haired beauty apologised.

Imi grinned. "You're forgiven, Mummy."

Morgana let out a groan at the title and somehow managed to pull the girl even closer to her, loving every second of the embrace. Michael knelt down by Merlin's side with Arthur.

"Wake up, Merlin," The boy commanded in a gentle voice. Arthur opened his mouth to tease him, but was interrupted when Merlin's eyes suddenly bolted open. Needless to say the king fell back a little in his surprise.

"What the…?" Arthur began, his gaze snapping onto Mars. "But…all you did was tell him. I've been calling his name for ages!"

Michael merely offered his uncle a smirk. "Get to know me, I'm amazing."

Merlin groaned as he forced himself to sit up, rubbing his head. "What happen-?"

"You fainted like a big girl," Arthur clearly couldn't wait for him to finish his question before he began his onslaught. "I've seen sturdier candle flames than you, Merlin."

The young warlock sent his king a tired look, until he looked up at Gwen who was talking to James. "Gwen, Arthur just said you look fat."

Arthur's smirk was instantly replaced by utter horror, his eyes and mouth wide open. "Why?" He rasped out.

Michael looked at his grandfather with newly found respect. "Well played," he congratulated, standing up and moving away from the line of fire.

"Is that so? Thank you for telling me, Merlin," Gwen began in a stiff tone.

Merlin offered her a smile and shrugged. "You were my friend first. I figured I should be loyal to you more."

"You're a rat," Arthur hissed at his advisor under his breath. "You're a big cowardly fainting scarf wearing rat!"

"Merlin," Gwen continued. "Would you kindly inform my husband that he will be sleeping on Gaius's floor if he wishes to prove how sorry he is?"

James grinned next to her. "That's fantastic."

"You're the magic man!" Bella cried, appearing in front of James and Gwen, her little neck craned all the way back and her smile bigger than her face.

James lifted a brow. "What's that now?"

"The magic man!" Bella was more than happy to repeat, Gwen folding her lips in on themselves to stop herself from laughing. "You made all the monsters go away. You saved me and my Aunt Gwen."

James smiled. "Right, this morning. Then yes I suppose I am the magic man – and you're hugging my leg," James added, becoming extremely uncomfortable when Bella wrapped herself around his leg with a gigantic smile on her face, before he turned fearful eyes on Gwen. "What do I do here? Shake her off and slip her a gold coin if she starts crying?"

"Seriously?" Gwen asked, scrunching up her face in disgust. "I can't believe you have children."

James lifted up his leg, impressed when Bella managed to hold on. "Woah, check out the spider baby," He said, amazed, not noticing when the queen put her face in her hands.

Morgana brushed Imi's hair out of her face and gave her one last kiss on the forehead. "Go help your father. I think Arthur's really going to kill him this time."

"Right," Imi laughed and left, leaving Morgana to notice Anna watching on from floor by the doorway. A frown came to rest on her pretty features. The young princess had been absent from the room for almost the entire time, remaining sitting on the floor as they went about catching up. With her mind made up she went and stood next to her half-sister, determined to discover the reasons behind her distress.

"Anna? What's wrong?" The black haired beauty asked gently, squatting down to be level with her.

Anna shook her head. "He's my father," The young princess breathed out, causing Morgana to adopt a look of regret. "James has been my father all this time and _lied _to me. Lied about you, about everything."

Morgana hung her head. "Anna-"

"He let me believe Borin was my father," Anna continued, her breathing laboured as her rage started to surface. "A monster who actually enjoyed seeing me suffer and he let me believe he was my father. My whole life I've not been able to trust anyone else and it turns out he's been lying to me for my entire life. And look at him," She directed Morgana's attention toward the sorcerer prince, who was still trying to throw off Bella with little success. "I've been sitting here, waiting for him to come over and explain why he did it because I owe him that much. After everything he's done for me I thought I'd at least let him explain why he would lie to me…but instead he chooses to joke around like he's forgotten he's told me anything," she shook her head, rapidly swatting a tear that fell from her young eyes.

Morgana tilted her head to the side, feeling awful for the girl. "Anna he loves you. He loves you more than anyone has ever loved anything in this world. Before we jumped into the platform, when you died, he was lost. He didn't even know who he was without you. I've never seen a man break before the moment he realised you had gone, but he did it right in front of me-"

"I know he loves me," she cut in, sending her sister a stern look. "I really do...but it's not enough. Not anymore. After all, isn't he supposed to love me anyway?"

Morgana frowned at her words. She meant what she was saying, but before she could ask what she was going to do, James appeared in front of them. "Hi…" He announced his presence awkwardly, eyes looking at everything other than a tight faced Anna. "Blue, could you give us a moment?"

"Absolutely," She responded with a firm nod, getting up and throwing James a pointed look as she passed him. Needless to say he recognised the look as a warning to be gentle.

She moved over to Imi and stroked her arm with a sigh, earning the girls' attention. "What's wrong with Anna?" She asked her mother, her concern evident in her tone. Morgana sighed, knowing there was no need to lie about it anymore.

James took a deep breath, summoning up the courage to finally look at his girl, only to see how hurt she looked. "Anna, I know you're probably upset with me right now but-"

"But what?" she cut in once more, glaring up at her _father _through eyes of rage. "What could you possibly say right now to explain why you lied to me for my entire life?"

He swallowed down his nerves, determined not to let this escalate. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to think I didn't want you," he explained. "Borin forced me when I was fourteen into Morgana's mothers' bed. I never wanted any part of it, and for the first two years of your life I wasn't lying. I thought you were my sister. Borin enchanted me, but the spell lifted when I actually started loving you like a father."

"What does this have to do with why you lied to me?" She seethed. "Or is it just a fun story?"

His brow crinkled. "I'm telling you this because I want you to see how I saw things. When I found out you were mine the first thing I felt was bad for you. In our world Anna, you didn't need a father. You didn't need someone who was supposed to love you anyway to love you. You needed someone who _chose _to protect you because they thought you were special, you _needed _that if you were ever going to grow up with any happiness at all in your life. If you saw a man suffering like I did for you, a man willing to be tortured, maimed, cursed and killed all for you then maybe you would know what it felt like to be worth something – something I _never _had…but had wanted, needed all my life. I didn't want you turning out cold and twisted like me, a child who would do anything to feel special in the eyes of their father. And I do mean anything," He gulped at this, having to avert his gaze for a moment. "You were, are still better than that, better than me. I knew just by looking in your eyes that you were better than me, that you were more, and I decided then that you would have everything I didn't," he growled out the latter. "Including someone who thought you were special. Someone you could throw tantrums with, hit when you were mad, take out on or tell all your troubles to – someone who you knew wanted to do all those things. I wanted you to feel special, Anna, because in our world you need that if you were going to be even remotely happy."

Anna nodded, absorbing his words as she looked down at the marble flooring beneath her feet. "I can understand that," She murmured. "Actually just the idea of it makes me feel like I am special, that someone would do all that for me…but I can't do that anymore because I now can never trust you again."

"Anna," he began softly, lowering himself and placing his hands on her arms. "I'm sorry-"

"DON'T touch me!" The princess cried, jolting away from her fathers' touch as if his hands were on fire, and stood on her feet. "Just…leave me alone."

His lips were parted as he rose too, not caring that everyone was now watching them. He only cared about the hurt in his girls' eyes. "Princess, please."

"My name is Anna," she fired back through calm but heated tones. "Your princess was someone who could trust the man who raised her, who knew everything would be alright no matter what was happening because she could trust that you would be there when you said you would," she continued, tears now welling up and bursting from her eyes as she shook her head. "Your princess felt safe because your word could be trusted, but now she's dead, because she wouldn't hate you like I do!"

James actually took a step back as her words hit him like a charging rhino, his eyes widening and utterly distraught when he could do nothing but watch her run from the room. His mouth opened and closed every few seconds, desperate to call her back and make her feel better, but knowing he couldn't. Because for once in his little girl's life he wasn't the one who could save her, he was the one who had caused her pain…and he felt his heart snap in two.

He spun around and shot Morgana a desperate, watery look. "Morgana," he pleaded.

She wasted no time. "I'll go make sure she doesn't do anything rash," She answered his unasked question, moving to go after her.

"No," Imi halted her mother with a hand to her arm. "She was my best friend once," she breathed out, refusing to make eye contact with James until she was striding past him. "And I know what it feels like to be lied to by him," she spat, storming past him and after the young princess.

"Imi," James called after her as well with similar results, only she actually turned round. "I thought it was the right thing to do, for her. I'd do anything for her."

Her features scrunched up at his words. "You slept with my grandmother, lied about it, and then were more than happy to be with me without speaking a word about it," She spat. "How is that right for anyone?"

His eyes were vulnerable as he regarded her, until eventually all he could do was shrug. "Because she always comes first."

Imi sighed, seemingly deflating, her furious eyes briefly catching a glance of Michael before returning to him. "I know," she huffed, understanding but still enraged, and swept from the room.

Silence followed after her departure, everyone staring at James Regus's still back. "DAMN IT!" He abruptly roared, just as a lightning bolt struck outside along with the sound of thunder erupting from the heavens and all the remaining windows shattering in the room. The group all at least flinched, all except for Merlin and Michael, who remained unfazed as they watched James bury his face in his hands and slide down the opposite wall. "I'm so sorry, princess," they heard the weak addition from him, face still smothered by his hands.

Merlin looked to Morgana, immediately picking up her distress and walking over to her. However it was when he lifted his hand to grab hers out of habit that she jerked away from him, panic dancing through her eyes. "What are you doing?" She gasped, horrified by his actions. "Merlin, you have to come to terms with what the fates have done to us."

His jaw tensed at her words. "What if it was only a one-time thing? I can't spend the rest of my life not being able to touch you, Morgana," he stated with firm resolve. "You're my wife."

"If you touch me then I'll die," she said in soft tones. "Because of them we can never kiss, hold hands, even embrace each other without me dying again. Michael can't break into the underworld every time you want to hold my hand to save my soul."

Merlin lifted his arms to display his confusion before letting them fall at his sides in anger. "Then what are we going to do? It's ridiculous for two people to be married and yet be unable to touch-"

"I know," she cut in, halting him in his rant. "So maybe we shouldn't be married anymore," she added, her eyes watery and hurt too. Merlin let his features open into one of shock. What did that mean? However before he could ask she had moved and picked up Bella. "Come on Bella, we're going to go for a ride," she stated with a sad smile, leaving the throne room with the wide-eyed little girl.

Gwen placed a hand on Arthur's chest. "I'm going to go with her," she said with a sad smile of her own.

Arthur sighed, not liking the idea of his pregnant wife leaving the safety of Camelot's walls, but knowing she would no matter what he said. "If you must, but take a few of the knights with you."

She nodded, placed a kiss on his cheek, laid a supportive hand on Merlin's arm as she walked by him and finally left the room, now leaving all the boys alone. Arthur ran a hand through his hair, trying to adjust to the last few moments that had transpired in his throne room. Anna hated the man she idolised and loved most, Imi was furious despite being reunited with her mother and the same man, Merlin and Morgana were apparently on the verge of breaking apart and finally his throne room was in a shambles.

"Arthur, we have to find a way to fix this," Merlin rounded on his King, earning his stern attention. "If we don't find a way then I'm going to lose Morgana. She's probably already thinking about it and I have no idea what to do."

Arthur sighed, understanding his friends anxiety. From his sisters last words he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little concerned himself. "There is nothing that's broken that cannot be fixed," he stated, folding his arms over his chest in thought, before looking up at his distraught seeming cousin. "James, any thoughts?"

"Several," Sounded the princes' muffled tones, his face still buried in his hands. "Do you think she meant it?" He asked them, looking up in hope to view their confused expressions. "Anna, do you think she really hates me?"

Michael, who had been leaning on the far wall with his arms crossed, nodded. "She meant it," he answered his fathers' question in his usual brutal honesty. "I've not often felt hatred so severe. You've brought everything she thought she could rely on down around her, and now she's not sure who or what she is. You did that. You caused that. Now you have to deal with the consequences."

Arthur bounced his eyebrows and shared a pointed look with Merlin. "Thanks Michael. That was…special."

"I would have said horrifying," Merlin muttered.

"That's because you're an idiot," Arthur retorted. "And you smell bad too."

"I think the question is why you insist on smelling me," Merlin scrunched up his features. "And why you expect me to smell so good in the first place."

James ran his hands through his hair, his chest physically aching as he thought on Anna, but managed to push himself up to his feet. "Truth be told, Merlin, there are several ways that the curse on Morgana could be reversed, but none of them easy. Come to think of it forget easy – they're not even pleasant, and Morgana could die in the process. Plus it doesn't take care of our other problems."

Arthur lowered his brow. "Other problems?"

"We have a few," James began. "First I want to give Caleb his life back, give him some choice in his own future, rather than dictating a life of suffering and sacrifice."

Arthur was still frowning. "Who's Caleb?"

"Michael – Mars over there – try and keep up," James breathed, frustrated. "I know it hurts your head but fight through the pain."

"That's a good idea," Arthur drawled. "Give him a third name. That's less confusing."

James pointed at him. "Nose. That's all I'm saying."

"I want my coat back," Arthur deadpanned.

"Also the fates said they were going to take Anna from me," James continued, completely ignoring his sulking cousin. "Said it was her destiny to die, and that's not an option. They told Merlin here I would be his doom after he takes away that which I cherish most – my best guess so far? It's Gwaine."

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "He likes to take my food right off my plate. I could see myself killing him."

"I can also see that," Arthur agreed.

"These…Goddesses also mentioned how me and Morgana will fall in love ," He still continued. "Disturbing? Yes. Sick? I would think so – but let's all remember you can't hate a face as handsome as this. It's like trying to hate a puppy…a puppy with great abs."

"Literally everything you just said upset me," Merlin groaned.

"Shut up, it's never going to happen," James chided. "I'm not even sure a puppy can have abs."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "I meant the woman I love falling in love with you."

"Oh, well neither will that," James replied sheepishly, emitting a nervous laugh. "There's more chance of me and Arthur…God help me I can't finish that sentence."

"I think we're all more than grateful," Arthur awkwardly agreed. "So, forgetting that ever happened, how do we stop all of this from happening, true or not?"

"We kill them," Michael finally spoke up. All three men's eyes turned to stare at the boy, who was gazing uninterested out of one of the shattered windows. "We find my fathers' hammer, break into hell, and kill them – all three of them – because they've started already. Everything you're all so afraid off, they are making it happen right now."

Merlin stepped in front of the scowling royal cousins. "What do you mean it's happening right now?"

"It is as it sounds," Mars replied, turning hard eyes onto his grandfather. "And the only way to stop it is to kill them."

Merlin narrowed his eyes, still confused but willing to believe. "You can see this?" Michael nodded. "Then it's settled," The young warlock finalized, before looking up at the rest of the group. "We're going to kill the Goddesses of fate."

"I agree," James concluded. "And since finding my hammer is the top priority, and I have nowhere else to go right now, I'm going to start trying to find it now."

"I…think I want to be by myself for now," Merlin tried to keep the mournfulness out of his tone, attempting to hide his heart break from the other men around him. If they knew how much the very idea, the very notion of losing Morgana hurt him, then he feared he would never stop crying. Something he never wanted to do in front of his friends. Right now he needed Gaius. The elderly physician always knew what to say to make him feel better. So it was with these individual goals that the two left, leaving behind Arthur and Michael in a destroyed throne room.

The fair haired king turned to the teenage boy, who was watching his father and grandfather leave with focused attention. He knew, just knew, that Mars could see things he simply couldn't. A snort escaped him. "I wish I could see the things you see, Michael," He admitted, crossing his arms.

"No you don't," Mars stated, tone full of confidence.

"No I do," he declared. "Do you know how useful it would be as King to notice every detail, to know when people were lying to you or to accurately determine how successful attacks will be? Invaluable."

"You know nothing about it. You're a child reaching for the fire because it's beautiful, unaware of how it can burn you," Mars practically scolded the King, earning his offended look. "If you could see what I see then you would know that the fates want my father and Morgana together so they make sure Merlin and Morgana break up – how? – by making sure they can't touch – they want James and Merlin to become enemies so they put a woman between them – a tactic as old as time - they want to take Anna from her father so they make her hate him – they want me to be the saviour so they test me in a stressful situation like for example having to break my grandmother out of hell and save my dying mother – they want Anna dead and Merlin to take what James cherishes most – it's obvious – Merlin is going to kill Anna and James is going to take Morgana from him. Merlin will do what he has to do to save the world and James and Morgana already have so much chemistry that to be honest it's really not much of a leap any more. But how could they when Imi is there? That was going to be your next question – the answer is simple, they will kill her to remove her from the equation and simultaneously bring my father and Morgana together. Hate will fester – betrayal will burn in both of their blood and just like that you have the worlds' two most powerful sorcerers trying to kill each other. It's not lies – none of it are lies – you just don't want to see it and the sooner you all see what I see the sooner we can stop them," Mars finished, turning to look at a distraught Arthur. "There. Still wish you could see what I see?"

* * *

And there we go. Chilling no? Oh really no? Damn. Alright well as always please review to let me know what you think. In the next chapter: An old inmate from the void shows up to cause Camelot some distress…by making all its inhabitants act like children. Will they survive the inevitable bickering, invasions, silliness and practical jokes? Find out in the next chapter.

Go with Christ…

Unless Ryan Reynolds is there...

Then go with him...

He's awesome.


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